Mobile terminal and control method for the mobile terminal

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a mobile terminal mounted with a cover to provide its associated functions, and a control method thereof. The present disclosure may include a body having a front surface and a rear surface thereof, a display unit disposed on the front surface, a cover disposed to cover the display unit, and provided with a window portion, and a controller configured to control the display unit to illuminate notification light on the window portion when an event occurs while the display unit is deactivated. The window portion may be formed to expose at least part of the display unit to the outside while covering the display, and the cover is formed to output the illuminated notification light at a boundary of the window portion.

RELATED APPLICATION

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a), this application claims the benefit ofearlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Application No.10-2013-0149900, filed on Dec. 4, 2013, and 10-2014-0015560, filled onFeb. 11, 2014, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a mobile terminal mounted with a coverto provide its associated functions, and a control method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Terminals may be divided into mobile/portable terminals and stationaryterminals according to their mobility. Also, the mobile terminals may beclassified into handheld terminals and vehicle mount terminals accordingto whether or not a user can directly carry.

As it becomes multifunctional, a mobile terminal can be allowed tocapture still or moving images, play music or video files, play games,receive broadcast and the like, so as to be implemented as an integratedmultimedia player.

Efforts are ongoing to support and increase the functionality of mobileterminals. Such efforts include software and hardware improvements, aswell as changes and improvements in the structural components.

Furthermore, in recent years, the development of a cover (or pouch)surrounding at least part of the mobile terminal has been activelycarried out to protect the mobile terminal. However, the use of themobile terminal will be restricted while the mobile terminal is coveredby a cover. For such an example of restriction, while the display unitof the mobile terminal is covered by the cover, a user may not knowvisual information displayed thereon, and therefore, the display unitshould be open. Accordingly, a mobile terminal capable of providinginformation associated with the mobile terminal to the user even whilethe display unit of the mobile terminal is covered by the cover may beconceived.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cover forimplementing a new form factor of a mobile terminal in association withthe mobile terminal.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a mobile terminalcapable of providing information even while the cover is not open, and acontrol method thereof.

Furthermore, the present disclosure provides a new mechanism forallowing design changes and additional functions in a mobile terminal.

In addition, still another aspect of the present disclosure is toimplement a structure that emits light from a folio cover in a foliotype mobile terminal case for covering a display unit, thereby providinga mobile terminal case with the role of an indicator and an excellentdesign.

In order to accomplish the foregoing objective, the present disclosuremay include a body having a front surface and a rear surface thereof, adisplay unit disposed on the front surface, a cover disposed to coverthe display unit, and provided with a window portion, and a controllerconfigured to control the display unit to illuminate notification lighton the window portion when an event occurs while the display unit isdeactivated. The window portion may be formed to expose at least part ofthe display unit to the outside while covering the display, and thecover may be formed to output the illuminated notification light at aboundary of the window portion.

According to an embodiment, the cover may include a cover front surfaceportion configured to cover the display unit, and a guide portionmounted on the cover front portion to cover at least part of the displayunit, and formed to guide light output from the display unit to thewindow portion.

According to an embodiment, the guide portion may be formed to surroundan outer circumference of the window portion.

According to an embodiment, the window portion may be formed with acircular shape, and the guide portion may be formed to be greater thanthe window portion, and a through hole corresponding to the windowportion is formed in the guide portion.

According to an embodiment, a recess portion recessed along thethickness direction thereof to accommodate the guide sheet portion maybe formed on the cover body portion.

According to an embodiment, the controller may turn on a region coveredby the guide sheet portion within the display unit to guide lightdisplayed on the display unit by the guide portion when the eventoccurs.

According to an embodiment, the cover may be provided with a lighttransmitting edge region to output light output from the display unit tothe outside.

According to an embodiment, the cover may include a guide portion atleast part of which is exposed to the outside while covering the displayunit to guide light output from the display unit to the edge region.

According to an embodiment, the cover portion may include a sensing unitconfigured to sense a configuration that the cover portion is covered onthe display unit, and the controller may control the display unit tooutput notification light on the boundary of the window portion when anevent occurs while the cover portion covers the display unit.

According to an embodiment, the controller may control the display unitto vary the color of notification light output on the boundary of thewindow portion according to the type of the occurred event.

According to an embodiment, the window portion may be formed with acircular shape, and an image sequentially turned on along the outercircumference of the window portion may be formed on the display unit.

According to an embodiment, the controller may control a turn-on speeddisplaying the image on the display unit at a first speed when theoccurred event is an event associated with a first application, andcontrol a turn-on speed displaying the image on the display unit at asecond speed which is different from the first speed when the occurredevent is an event associated with a second application which isdifferent from the first application.

According to an embodiment, the window portion may be formed with acircular shape, and when there exist a plurality of notification targetevents to be guided through the notification light, the controller maycontrol the display unit to partition the outer circumference of thewindow portion into a plurality of regions based on the number of aplurality of events, and display different colors of notification lighton the surrounding of the plurality of partitioned regions.

According to an embodiment, the different colors may be determined basedon the types of the plurality of events, and information on thedifferent colors may be stored in a memory in connection with theinformation of applications corresponding to the plurality of events,respectively, and when an event occurs, the controller may control thedisplay unit to output notification light based on the information of anapplication corresponding to the occurred event and color information inconnection with an application corresponding to the occurred event.

According to an embodiment, the controller may display a plurality oficons representing applications corresponding to the plurality ofevents, respectively, when notification light consisting of a pluralityof colors is output on the outer circumference of the window portion andthen a predetermined type of touch is applied to the window portionwithin a predetermined period of time, and output the detailedinformation of an event corresponding to the selected icon on an exposedregion exposed through the window portion of the display unit when anyone of the displayed icons is selected.

According to an embodiment, the plurality of icons may be arranged alongthe circumference of the window portion.

According to an embodiment, the controller may display the plurality oficons with colors based on color information in connection withapplications corresponding to the plurality of icons, respectively.

According to an embodiment, when any one of the plurality of icons isselected, the controller may switch notification light consisting of aplurality of colors along the outer circumference of the window portionto a color in connection with an application corresponding to theselected icon.

According to an embodiment, the notification target event may be anevent that has occurred prior to a time point at which notificationlight is output in response to the event occurrence but has beenunchecked.

According to an embodiment, when a predetermined type of touch isapplied to the window portion while displaying the different colors ofnotification light, the controller may display detailed information onany one of the plurality of notification target events.

According to an embodiment, when a predetermined type of touch isapplied again to the window portion while displaying detailedinformation on any one of the plurality of notification target events,the controller may switch detailed information displayed on the displayunit to detailed information on the other one of the plurality ofnotification target events.

According to an embodiment, different colors constituting thenotification light may represent the plurality of notification targetevents, respectively, and when detailed information on any one of theplurality of notification target events is switched to detailedinformation on the other one thereof, the controller may exclude a colorcorresponding to the any one event from the different colorsconstituting the notification light.

Moreover, the present disclosure may include a rear cover combined witha rear surface of the mobile terminal, and a folio cover connected toone side of the rear cover to cover a front surface of the mobileterminal, wherein the folio cover provides a front sheet located on thefront surface, a rear sheet brought into contact with the front surfaceof the mobile terminal, a light source interposed between the frontsheet and the rear sheet, an opening portion formed on the front sheet,and a light guide member configured to guide light incident from thelight source to be emitted to the front surface through the openingportion of the front sheet.

The light guide member may include an opening portion formed on thefront sheet, and a light guide sheet disposed on a rear surface of theopening portion to emit light emitted from the light source through theopening portion.

The light guide member may include an opening portion formed on thefolio cover, and a light guide sheet one side of which is disposedadjacent to the light source, and the other side of which is locatedaround the opening portion.

The light guide member may further include a reflective layer formed ona rear surface of the light guide sheet.

The opening portion may include a plurality of micro perforated holes,and may further include liquid crystals for selectively transmittinglight between the light guide member and the micro perforated holes.

The present disclosure may further include a connection terminal broughtinto contact with a rear terminal formed on a rear surface of the mobileterminal when coupling to the mobile terminal and formed at an innerside of the rear cover, and a circuit unit configured to supply power tothe light source from the power supply terminal.

The present disclosure may use a flexible printed circuit board as thecircuit unit.

During the occurrence of an event on the mobile terminal, power may beapplied through the connection terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram for explaining a mobile terminal associatedwith the present disclosure;

FIGS. 1B and 1C are conceptual views in which an example of the mobileterminal associated with the present disclosure is seen from differentdirections;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views illustrating a mobile terminalaccommodated in a cover according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view illustrating a cover in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2B;

FIG. 4B is a view illustrating a guide sheet in FIG. 4A according to amodified example;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view illustrating a cover according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cover in a state thatthe terminal is closed by the cover in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view illustrating a cover according to stillanother embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cover in a state thatthe terminal is closed by the cover in FIG. 7;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are conceptual views illustrating according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flow char for explaining a method of providing a userinterface notifying the occurrence of an event using a cover in a mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are conceptual views for explaining FIG. 10;

FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C are conceptual views for explaining a method ofnotifying the occurrence of an event in a mobile terminal according tothe present disclosure;

FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D are conceptual views forexplaining a method of notifying the occurrence of a plurality of eventsin a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a conceptual view for explaining a method of notifying theoccurrence of an event in a mobile terminal according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 16A and 16B are conceptual views for explaining a method ofnotifying the occurrence of an event using another region of the coverin a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 17A, 17B, 17C and 17D are conceptual views for explaining a methodof controlling a mobile terminal using a touch to the cover;

FIG. 18 is a conceptual view for explaining a method of providing afeedback to a user when the mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure is closed by the cover;

FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, 19E and 19F are conceptual views forexplaining a method of providing its corresponding user interface when acover provided with a circular shaped window is covered on a mobileterminal according to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 21C, 21D and 21E are conceptual views forexplaining a method of providing a user interface capable of controllinga mobile terminal in the aspect of user's experience when a coverprovided with a circular shaped window is covered on a mobile terminalaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating a mobile terminal case according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 23 is a view illustrating a state in which a mobile terminal ismounted on a mobile terminal case in FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a mobile terminalcase in FIG. 22;

FIG. 25 is a view illustrating a folio cover combined with a frontsheet, a light guide member, a light source and a flexibly printedcircuit board in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a light guidemember portion of a folio cover;

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating a mobile terminal case according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 27.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Description will now be given in detail according to exemplaryembodiments disclosed herein, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. For the sake of brief description with reference to thedrawings, the same or equivalent components may be provided with thesame or similar reference numbers, and description thereof will not berepeated. In general, a suffix such as “module” and “unit” may be usedto refer to elements or components. Use of such a suffix herein ismerely intended to facilitate description of the specification, and thesuffix itself is not intended to give any special meaning or function.In the present disclosure, that which is well-known to one of ordinaryskill in the relevant art has generally been omitted for the sake ofbrevity. The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understandvarious technical features and it should be understood that theembodiments presented herein are not limited by the accompanyingdrawings. As such, the present disclosure should be construed to extendto any alterations, equivalents and substitutes in addition to thosewhich are particularly set out in the accompanying drawings.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may beused herein to describe various elements, these elements should not belimited by these terms. These terms are generally only used todistinguish one element from another.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected with” another element, the element can be connected with theother element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast,when an element is referred to as being “directly connected with”another element, there are no intervening elements present.

A singular representation may include a plural representation unless itrepresents a definitely different meaning from the context. Terms suchas “include” or “has” are used herein and should be understood that theyare intended to indicate an existence of several components, functionsor steps, disclosed in the specification, and it is also understood thatgreater or fewer components, functions, or steps may likewise beutilized.

Mobile terminals presented herein may be implemented using a variety ofdifferent types of terminals. Examples of such terminals includecellular phones, smart phones, user equipment, laptop computers, digitalbroadcast terminals, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portablemultimedia players (PMPs), navigators, portable computers (PCs), slatePCs, tablet PCs, ultra books, wearable devices (for example, smartwatches, smart glasses, head mounted displays (HMDs)), and the like.

By way of non-limiting example only, further description will be madewith reference to particular types of mobile terminals. However, suchteachings apply equally to other types of terminals, such as those typesnoted above. In addition, these teachings may also be applied tostationary terminals such as digital TV, desktop computers, and thelike.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1A-1C, where FIG. 1A is a block diagramof a mobile terminal in accordance with the present disclosure, andFIGS. 1B and 1C are conceptual views of one example of the mobileterminal, viewed from different directions.

The mobile terminal 100 is shown having components such as a wirelesscommunication unit 110, an input unit 120, a sensing unit 140, an outputunit 150, an interface unit 160, a memory 170, a controller 180, and apower supply unit 190. It is understood that implementing all of theillustrated components is not a requirement, and that greater or fewercomponents may alternatively be implemented.

Referring now to FIG. 1A, the mobile terminal 100 is shown havingwireless communication unit 110 configured with several commonlyimplemented components. For instance, the wireless communication unit110 typically includes one or more components which permit wirelesscommunication between the mobile terminal 100 and a wirelesscommunication system or network within which the mobile terminal islocated.

The wireless communication unit 110 typically includes one or moremodules which permit communications such as wireless communicationsbetween the mobile terminal 100 and a wireless communication system,communications between the mobile terminal 100 and another mobileterminal, communications between the mobile terminal 100 and an externalserver. Further, the wireless communication unit 110 typically includesone or more modules which connect the mobile terminal 100 to one or morenetworks. To facilitate such communications, the wireless communicationunit 110 includes one or more of a broadcast receiving module 111, amobile communication module 112, a wireless Internet module 113, ashort-range communication module 114, and a location information module115.

The input unit 120 includes a camera 121 for obtaining images or video,a microphone 122, which is one type of audio input device for inputtingan audio signal, and a user input unit 123 (for example, a touch key, apush key, a mechanical key, a soft key, and the like) for allowing auser to input information. Data (for example, audio, video, image, andthe like) is obtained by the input unit 120 and may be analyzed andprocessed by controller 180 according to device parameters, usercommands, and combinations thereof.

The sensing unit 140 is typically implemented using one or more sensorsconfigured to sense internal information of the mobile terminal, thesurrounding environment of the mobile terminal, user information, andthe like. For example, in FIG. 1A, the sensing unit 140 is shown havinga proximity sensor 141 and an illumination sensor 142.

If desired, the sensing unit 140 may alternatively or additionallyinclude other types of sensors or devices, such as a touch sensor, anacceleration sensor, a magnetic sensor, a G-sensor, a gyroscope sensor,a motion sensor, an RGB sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a finger scansensor, a ultrasonic sensor, an optical sensor (for example, camera121), a microphone 122, a battery gauge, an environment sensor (forexample, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, a radiation detectionsensor, a thermal sensor, and a gas sensor, among others), and achemical sensor (for example, an electronic nose, a health care sensor,a biometric sensor, and the like), to name a few. The mobile terminal100 may be configured to utilize information obtained from sensing unit140, and in particular, information obtained from one or more sensors ofthe sensing unit 140, and combinations thereof.

The output unit 150 is typically configured to output various types ofinformation, such as audio, video, tactile output, and the like. Theoutput unit 150 is shown having a display unit 151, an audio outputmodule 152, a haptic module 153, and an optical output module 154.

The display unit 151 may have an inter-layered structure or anintegrated structure with a touch sensor in order to facilitate a touchscreen. The touch screen may provide an output interface between themobile terminal 100 and a user, as well as function as the user inputunit 123 which provides an input interface between the mobile terminal100 and the user.

The interface unit 160 serves as an interface with various types ofexternal devices that can be coupled to the mobile terminal 100. Theinterface unit 160, for example, may include any of wired or wirelessports, external power supply ports, wired or wireless data ports, memorycard ports, ports for connecting a device having an identificationmodule, audio input/output (I/O) ports, video I/O ports, earphone ports,and the like. In some cases, the mobile terminal 100 may performassorted control functions associated with a connected external device,in response to the external device being connected to the interface unit160.

The memory 170 is typically implemented to store data to support variousfunctions or features of the mobile terminal 100. For instance, thememory 170 may be configured to store application programs executed inthe mobile terminal 100, data or instructions for operations of themobile terminal 100, and the like. Some of these application programsmay be downloaded from an external server via wireless communication.Other application programs may be installed within the mobile terminal100 at time of manufacturing or shipping, which is typically the casefor basic functions of the mobile terminal 100 (for example, receiving acall, placing a call, receiving a message, sending a message, and thelike). It is common for application programs to be stored in the memory170, installed in the mobile terminal 100, and executed by thecontroller 180 to perform an operation (or function) for the mobileterminal 100.

The controller 180 typically functions to control overall operation ofthe mobile terminal 100, in addition to the operations associated withthe application programs. The controller 180 may provide or processinformation or functions appropriate for a user by processing signals,data, information and the like, which are input or output by the variouscomponents depicted in FIG. 1A, or activating application programsstored in the memory 170. As one example, the controller 180 controlssome or all of the components illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C according tothe execution of an application program that have been stored in thememory 170.

The power supply unit 190 can be configured to receive external power orprovide internal power in order to supply appropriate power required foroperating elements and components included in the mobile terminal 100.The power supply unit 190 may include a battery, and the battery may beconfigured to be embedded in the terminal body, or configured to bedetachable from the terminal body.

Referring still to FIG. 1A, various components depicted in this figurewill now be described in more detail. Regarding the wirelesscommunication unit 110, the broadcast receiving module 111 is typicallyconfigured to receive a broadcast signal and/or broadcast associatedinformation from an external broadcast managing entity via a broadcastchannel. The broadcast channel may include a satellite channel, aterrestrial channel, or both. In some embodiments, two or more broadcastreceiving modules 111 may be utilized to facilitate simultaneouslyreceiving of two or more broadcast channels, or to support switchingamong broadcast channels.

The input unit 120 may be configured to permit various types of input tothe mobile terminal 120. Examples of such input include audio, image,video, data, and user input. Image and video input is often obtainedusing one or more cameras 121. Such cameras 121 may process image framesof still pictures or video obtained by image sensors in a video or imagecapture mode. The processed image frames can be displayed on the displayunit 151 or stored in memory 170. In some cases, the cameras 121 may bearranged in a matrix configuration to permit a plurality of imageshaving various angles or focal points to be input to the mobile terminal100. As another example, the cameras 121 may be located in astereoscopic arrangement to acquire left and right images forimplementing a stereoscopic image.

The microphone 122 is generally implemented to permit audio input to themobile terminal 100. The audio input can be processed in various mannersaccording to a function being executed in the mobile terminal 100. Ifdesired, the microphone 122 may include assorted noise removingalgorithms to remove unwanted noise generated in the course of receivingthe external audio.

The user input unit 123 is a component that permits input by a user.Such user input may enable the controller 180 to control operation ofthe mobile terminal 100. The user input unit 123 may include one or moreof a mechanical input element (for example, a key, a button located on afront and/or rear surface or a side surface of the mobile terminal 100,a dome switch, a jog wheel, a jog switch, and the like), or atouch-sensitive input, among others. As one example, the touch-sensitiveinput may be a virtual key or a soft key, which is displayed on a touchscreen through software processing, or a touch key which is located onthe mobile terminal at a location that is other than the touch screen.On the other hand, the virtual key or the visual key may be displayed onthe touch screen in various shapes, for example, graphic, text, icon,video, or a combination thereof.

The sensing unit 140 is generally configured to sense one or more ofinternal information of the mobile terminal, surrounding environmentinformation of the mobile terminal, user information, or the like. Thecontroller 180 generally cooperates with the sending unit 140 to controloperation of the mobile terminal 100 or execute data processing, afunction or an operation associated with an application programinstalled in the mobile terminal based on the sensing provided by thesensing unit 140. The sensing unit 140 may be implemented using any of avariety of sensors, some of which will now be described in more detail.

The proximity sensor 141 may include a sensor to sense presence orabsence of an object approaching a surface, or an object located near asurface, by using an electromagnetic field, infrared rays, or the likewithout a mechanical contact. The proximity sensor 141 may be arrangedat an inner region of the mobile terminal covered by the touch screen,or near the touch screen.

The proximity sensor 141, for example, may include any of a transmissivetype photoelectric sensor, a direct reflective type photoelectricsensor, a mirror reflective type photoelectric sensor, a high-frequencyoscillation proximity sensor, a capacitance type proximity sensor, amagnetic type proximity sensor, an infrared rays proximity sensor, andthe like. When the touch screen is implemented as a capacitance type,the proximity sensor 141 can sense proximity of a pointer relative tothe touch screen by changes of an electromagnetic field, which isresponsive to an approach of an object with conductivity. In this case,the touch screen (touch sensor) may also be categorized as a proximitysensor.

The term “proximity touch” will often be referred to herein to denotethe scenario in which a pointer is positioned to be proximate to thetouch screen without contacting the touch screen. The term “contacttouch” will often be referred to herein to denote the scenario in whicha pointer makes physical contact with the touch screen. For the positioncorresponding to the proximity touch of the pointer relative to thetouch screen, such position will correspond to a position where thepointer is perpendicular to the touch screen. The proximity sensor 141may sense proximity touch, and proximity touch patterns (for example,distance, direction, speed, time, position, moving status, and thelike).

In general, controller 180 processes data corresponding to proximitytouches and proximity touch patterns sensed by the proximity sensor 141,and cause output of visual information on the touch screen. In addition,the controller 180 can control the mobile terminal 100 to executedifferent operations or process different data according to whether atouch with respect to a point on the touch screen is either a proximitytouch or a contact touch.

A touch sensor can sense a touch applied to the touch screen, such asdisplay unit 151, using any of a variety of touch methods. Examples ofsuch touch methods include a resistive type, a capacitive type, aninfrared type, and a magnetic field type, among others.

As one example, the touch sensor may be configured to convert changes ofpressure applied to a specific part of the display unit 151, or convertcapacitance occurring at a specific part of the display unit 151, intoelectric input signals. The touch sensor may also be configured to sensenot only a touched position and a touched area, but also touch pressureand/or touch capacitance. A touch object is generally used to apply atouch input to the touch sensor. Examples of typical touch objectsinclude a finger, a touch pen, a stylus pen, a pointer, or the like.

When a touch input is sensed by a touch sensor, corresponding signalsmay be transmitted to a touch controller. The touch controller mayprocess the received signals, and then transmit corresponding data tothe controller 180. Accordingly, the controller 180 may sense whichregion of the display unit 151 has been touched. Here, the touchcontroller may be a component separate from the controller 180, thecontroller 180, and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the controller 180 may execute the same ordifferent controls according to a type of touch object that touches thetouch screen or a touch key provided in addition to the touch screen.Whether to execute the same or different control according to the objectwhich provides a touch input may be decided based on a current operatingstate of the mobile terminal 100 or a currently executed applicationprogram, for example.

The touch sensor and the proximity sensor may be implementedindividually, or in combination, to sense various types of touches. Suchtouches includes a short (or tap) touch, a long touch, a multi-touch, adrag touch, a flick touch, a pinch-in touch, a pinch-out touch, a swipetouch, a hovering touch, and the like.

If desired, an ultrasonic sensor may be implemented to recognizeposition information relating to a touch object using ultrasonic waves.The controller 180, for example, may calculate a position of a wavegeneration source based on information sensed by an illumination sensorand a plurality of ultrasonic sensors. Since light is much faster thanultrasonic waves, the time for which the light reaches the opticalsensor is much shorter than the time for which the ultrasonic wavereaches the ultrasonic sensor. The position of the wave generationsource may be calculated using this fact. For instance, the position ofthe wave generation source may be calculated using the time differencefrom the time that the ultrasonic wave reaches the sensor based on thelight as a reference signal.

The camera 121 typically includes at least one a camera sensor (CCD,CMOS etc.), a photo sensor (or image sensors), and a laser sensor.

Implementing the camera 121 with a laser sensor may allow detection of atouch of a physical object with respect to a 3D stereoscopic image. Thephoto sensor may be laminated on, or overlapped with, the displaydevice. The photo sensor may be configured to scan movement of thephysical object in proximity to the touch screen. In more detail, thephoto sensor may include photo diodes and transistors at rows andcolumns to scan content received at the photo sensor using an electricalsignal which changes according to the quantity of applied light. Namely,the photo sensor may calculate the coordinates of the physical objectaccording to variation of light to thus obtain position information ofthe physical object.

The display unit 151 is generally configured to output informationprocessed in the mobile terminal 100. For example, the display unit 151may display execution screen information of an application programexecuting at the mobile terminal 100 or user interface (UI) and graphicuser interface (GUI) information in response to the execution screeninformation.

In some embodiments, the display unit 151 may be implemented as astereoscopic display unit for displaying stereoscopic images. A typicalstereoscopic display unit may employ a stereoscopic display scheme suchas a stereoscopic scheme (a glass scheme), an auto-stereoscopic scheme(glassless scheme), a projection scheme (holographic scheme), or thelike.

The audio output module 152 is generally configured to output audiodata. Such audio data may be obtained from any of a number of differentsources, such that the audio data may be received from the wirelesscommunication unit 110 or may have been stored in the memory 170. Theaudio data may be output during modes such as a signal reception mode, acall mode, a record mode, a voice recognition mode, a broadcastreception mode, and the like. The audio output module 152 can provideaudible output related to a particular function (e.g., a call signalreception sound, a message reception sound, etc.) performed by themobile terminal 100. The audio output module 152 may also be implementedas a receiver, a speaker, a buzzer, or the like.

A haptic module 153 can be configured to generate various tactileeffects that a user feels, perceive, or otherwise experience. A typicalexample of a tactile effect generated by the haptic module 153 isvibration. The strength, pattern and the like of the vibration generatedby the haptic module 153 can be controlled by user selection or settingby the controller. For example, the haptic module 153 may outputdifferent vibrations in a combining manner or a sequential manner.

Besides vibration, the haptic module 153 can generate various othertactile effects, including an effect by stimulation such as a pinarrangement vertically moving to contact skin, a spray force or suctionforce of air through a jet orifice or a suction opening, a touch to theskin, a contact of an electrode, electrostatic force, an effect byreproducing the sense of cold and warmth using an element that canabsorb or generate heat, and the like.

The haptic module 153 can also be implemented to allow the user to feela tactile effect through a muscle sensation such as the user's fingersor arm, as well as transferring the tactile effect through directcontact. Two or more haptic modules 153 may be provided according to theparticular configuration of the mobile terminal 100.

An optical output module 154 can output a signal for indicating an eventgeneration using light of a light source. Examples of events generatedin the mobile terminal 100 may include message reception, call signalreception, a missed call, an alarm, a schedule notice, an emailreception, information reception through an application, and the like.

A signal output by the optical output module 154 may be implemented insuch a manner that the mobile terminal emits monochromatic light orlight with a plurality of colors. The signal output may be terminated asthe mobile terminal senses that a user has checked the generated event,for example.

The interface unit 160 serves as an interface for external devices to beconnected with the mobile terminal 100. For example, the interface unit160 can receive data transmitted from an external device, receive powerto transfer to elements and components within the mobile terminal 100,or transmit internal data of the mobile terminal 100 to such externaldevice. The interface unit 160 may include wired or wireless headsetports, external power supply ports, wired or wireless data ports, memorycard ports, ports for connecting a device having an identificationmodule, audio input/output (I/O) ports, video I/O ports, earphone ports,or the like.

The identification module may be a chip that stores various informationfor authenticating authority of using the mobile terminal 100 and mayinclude a user identity module (UIM), a subscriber identity module(SIM), a universal subscriber identity module (USIM), and the like. Inaddition, the device having the identification module (also referred toherein as an “identifying device”) may take the form of a smart card.Accordingly, the identifying device can be connected with the terminal100 via the interface unit 160.

When the mobile terminal 100 is connected with an external cradle, theinterface unit 160 can serve as a passage to allow power from the cradleto be supplied to the mobile terminal 100 or may serve as a passage toallow various command signals input by the user from the cradle to betransferred to the mobile terminal there through. Various commandsignals or power input from the cradle may operate as signals forrecognizing that the mobile terminal is properly mounted on the cradle.

The memory 170 can store programs to support operations of thecontroller 180 and store input/output data (for example, phonebook,messages, still images, videos, etc.). The memory 170 may store datarelated to various patterns of vibrations and audio which are output inresponse to touch inputs on the touch screen.

The memory 170 may include one or more types of storage mediumsincluding a Flash memory, a hard disk, a solid state disk, a silicondisk, a multimedia card micro type, a card-type memory (e.g., SD or DXmemory, etc), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Static Random AccessMemory (SRAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), an Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a Programmable Read-Only memory(PROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and thelike. The mobile terminal 100 may also be operated in relation to anetwork storage device that performs the storage function of the memory170 over a network, such as the Internet.

The controller 180 may typically control the general operations of themobile terminal 100. For example, the controller 180 may set or releasea lock state for restricting a user from inputting a control commandwith respect to applications when a status of the mobile terminal meetsa preset condition.

The controller 180 can also perform the controlling and processingassociated with voice calls, data communications, video calls, and thelike, or perform pattern recognition processing to recognize ahandwriting input or a picture drawing input performed on the touchscreen as characters or images, respectively. In addition, thecontroller 180 can control one or a combination of those components inorder to implement various exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

The power supply unit 190 receives external power or provide internalpower and supply the appropriate power required for operating respectiveelements and components included in the mobile terminal 100. The powersupply unit 190 may include a battery, which is typically rechargeableor be detachably coupled to the terminal body for charging.

The power supply unit 190 may include a connection port. The connectionport may be configured as one example of the interface unit 160 to whichan external charger for supplying power to recharge the battery iselectrically connected.

As another example, the power supply unit 190 may be configured torecharge the battery in a wireless manner without use of the connectionport. In this example, the power supply unit 190 can receive power,transferred from an external wireless power transmitter, using at leastone of an inductive coupling method which is based on magnetic inductionor a magnetic resonance coupling method which is based onelectromagnetic resonance.

Various embodiments described herein may be implemented in acomputer-readable medium, a machine-readable medium, or similar mediumusing, for example, software, hardware, or any combination thereof.

Referring now to FIGS. 1B and 1C, the mobile terminal 100 is describedwith reference to a bar-type terminal body. However, the mobile terminal100 may alternatively be implemented in any of a variety of differentconfigurations. Examples of such configurations include watch-type,clip-type, glasses-type, or as a folder-type, flip-type, slide-type,swing-type, and swivel-type in which two and more bodies are combinedwith each other in a relatively movable manner, and combinationsthereof. Discussion herein will often relate to a particular type ofmobile terminal (for example, bar-type, watch-type, glasses-type, andthe like). However, such teachings with regard to a particular type ofmobile terminal will generally apply to other types of mobile terminalsas well.

The mobile terminal 100 will generally include a case (for example,frame, housing, cover, and the like) forming the appearance of theterminal. In this embodiment, the case is formed using a front case 101and a rear case 102. Various electronic components are incorporated intoa space formed between the front case 101 and the rear case 102. Atleast one middle case may be additionally positioned between the frontcase 101 and the rear case 102.

The display unit 151 is shown located on the front side of the terminalbody to output information. As illustrated, a window 151 a of thedisplay unit 151 may be mounted to the front case 101 to form the frontsurface of the terminal body together with the front case 101.

In some embodiments, electronic components may also be mounted to therear case 102. Examples of such electronic components include adetachable battery 191, an identification module, a memory card, and thelike. Rear cover 103 is shown covering the electronic components, andthis cover may be detachably coupled to the rear case 102. Therefore,when the rear cover 103 is detached from the rear case 102, theelectronic components mounted to the rear case 102 are externallyexposed.

As illustrated, when the rear cover 103 is coupled to the rear case 102,a side surface of the rear case 102 is partially exposed. In some cases,upon the coupling, the rear case 102 may also be completely shielded bythe rear cover 103. In some embodiments, the rear cover 103 may includean opening for externally exposing a camera 121 b or an audio outputmodule 152 b.

The cases 101, 102, 103 may be formed by injection-molding syntheticresin or may be formed of a metal, for example, stainless steel (STS),aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), or the like.

As an alternative to the example in which the plurality of cases form aninner space for accommodating components, the mobile terminal 100 may beconfigured such that one case forms the inner space. In this example, amobile terminal 100 having a uni-body is formed in such a manner thatsynthetic resin or metal extends from a side surface to a rear surface.

If desired, the mobile terminal 100 may include a waterproofing unit(not shown) for preventing introduction of water into the terminal body.For example, the waterproofing unit may include a waterproofing memberwhich is located between the window 151 a and the front case 101,between the front case 101 and the rear case 102, or between the rearcase 102 and the rear cover 103, to hermetically seal an inner spacewhen those cases are coupled.

FIGS. 1B and 1C depict certain components as arranged on the mobileterminal. However, it is to be understood that alternative arrangementsare possible and within the teachings of the instant disclosure. Somecomponents may be omitted or rearranged. For example, the firstmanipulation unit 123 a may be located on another surface of theterminal body, and the second audio output module 152 b may be locatedon the side surface of the terminal body.

The display unit 151 outputs information processed in the mobileterminal 100. The display unit 151 may be implemented using one or moresuitable display devices. Examples of such suitable display devicesinclude a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquidcrystal display (TFT-LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), aflexible display, a 3-dimensional (3D) display, an e-ink display, andcombinations thereof.

The display unit 151 may be implemented using two display devices, whichcan implement the same or different display technology. For instance, aplurality of the display units 151 may be arranged on one side, eitherspaced apart from each other, or these devices may be integrated, orthese devices may be arranged on different surfaces.

The display unit 151 may also include a touch sensor which senses atouch input received at the display unit. When a touch is input to thedisplay unit 151, the touch sensor may be configured to sense this touchand the controller 180, for example, may generate a control command orother signal corresponding to the touch. The content which is input inthe touching manner may be a text or numerical value, or a menu itemwhich can be indicated or designated in various modes.

The touch sensor may be configured in a form of a film having a touchpattern, disposed between the window 151 a and a display on a rearsurface of the window 151 a, or a metal wire which is patterned directlyon the rear surface of the window 151 a. Alternatively, the touch sensormay be integrally formed with the display. For example, the touch sensormay be disposed on a substrate of the display or within the display.

The display unit 151 may also form a touch screen together with thetouch sensor. Here, the touch screen may serve as the user input unit123 (see FIG. 1A). Therefore, the touch screen may replace at least someof the functions of the first manipulation unit 123 a.

The first audio output module 152 a may be implemented in the form of aspeaker to output voice audio, alarm sounds, multimedia audioreproduction, and the like.

The window 151 a of the display unit 151 will typically include anaperture to permit audio generated by the first audio output module 152a to pass. One alternative is to allow audio to be released along anassembly gap between the structural bodies (for example, a gap betweenthe window 151 a and the front case 101). In this case, a holeindependently formed to output audio sounds may not be seen or isotherwise hidden in terms of appearance, thereby further simplifying theappearance and manufacturing of the mobile terminal 100.

The optical output module 154 can be configured to output light forindicating an event generation. Examples of such events include amessage reception, a call signal reception, a missed call, an alarm, aschedule notice, an email reception, information reception through anapplication, and the like. When a user has checked a generated event,the controller can control the optical output unit 154 to stop the lightoutput.

The first camera 121 a can process image frames such as still or movingimages obtained by the image sensor in a capture mode or a video callmode. The processed image frames can then be displayed on the displayunit 151 or stored in the memory 170.

The first and second manipulation units 123 a and 123 b are examples ofthe user input unit 123, which may be manipulated by a user to provideinput to the mobile terminal 100. The first and second manipulationunits 123 a and 123 b may also be commonly referred to as a manipulatingportion, and may employ any tactile method that allows the user toperform manipulation such as touch, push, scroll, or the like. The firstand second manipulation units 123 a and 123 b may also employ anynon-tactile method that allows the user to perform manipulation such asproximity touch, hovering, or the like.

FIG. 1B illustrates the first manipulation unit 123 a as a touch key,but possible alternatives include a mechanical key, a push key, a touchkey, and combinations thereof.

Input received at the first and second manipulation units 123 a and 123b may be used in various ways. For example, the first manipulation unit123 a may be used by the user to provide an input to a menu, home key,cancel, search, or the like, and the second manipulation unit 123 b maybe used by the user to provide an input to control a volume level beingoutput from the first or second audio output modules 152 a or 152 b, toswitch to a touch recognition mode of the display unit 151, or the like.

As another example of the user input unit 123, a rear input unit (notshown) may be located on the rear surface of the terminal body. The rearinput unit can be manipulated by a user to provide input to the mobileterminal 100. The input may be used in a variety of different ways. Forexample, the rear input unit may be used by the user to provide an inputfor power on/off, start, end, scroll, control volume level being outputfrom the first or second audio output modules 152 a or 152 b, switch toa touch recognition mode of the display unit 151, and the like. The rearinput unit may be configured to permit touch input, a push input, orcombinations thereof.

The rear input unit may be located to overlap the display unit 151 ofthe front side in a thickness direction of the terminal body. As oneexample, the rear input unit may be located on an upper end portion ofthe rear side of the terminal body such that a user can easilymanipulate it using a forefinger when the user grabs the terminal bodywith one hand. Alternatively, the rear input unit can be positioned atmost any location of the rear side of the terminal body.

Embodiments that include the rear input unit may implement some or allof the functionality of the first manipulation unit 123 a in the rearinput unit. As such, in situations where the first manipulation unit 123a is omitted from the front side, the display unit 151 can have a largerscreen.

As a further alternative, the mobile terminal 100 may include a fingerscan sensor which scans a user's fingerprint. The controller 180 canthen use fingerprint information sensed by the finger scan sensor aspart of an authentication procedure. The finger scan sensor may also beinstalled in the display unit 151 or implemented in the user input unit123.

The microphone 122 is shown located at an end of the mobile terminal100, but other locations are possible. If desired, multiple microphonesmay be implemented, with such an arrangement permitting the receiving ofstereo sounds.

The interface unit 160 may serve as a path allowing the mobile terminal100 to interface with external devices. For example, the interface unit160 may include one or more of a connection terminal for connecting toanother device (for example, an earphone, an external speaker, or thelike), a port for near field communication (for example, an InfraredData Association (IrDA) port, a Bluetooth port, a wireless LAN port, andthe like), or a power supply terminal for supplying power to the mobileterminal 100. The interface unit 160 may be implemented in the form of asocket for accommodating an external card, such as SubscriberIdentification Module (SIM), User Identity Module (UIM), or a memorycard for information storage.

The second camera 121 b is shown located at the rear side of theterminal body and includes an image capturing direction that issubstantially opposite to the image capturing direction of the firstcamera unit 121 a. If desired, second camera 121 a may alternatively belocated at other locations, or made to be moveable, in order to have adifferent image capturing direction from that which is shown.

The second camera 121 b can include a plurality of lenses arranged alongat least one line. The plurality of lenses may also be arranged in amatrix configuration. The cameras may be referred to as an “arraycamera.” When the second camera 121 b is implemented as an array camera,images may be captured in various manners using the plurality of lensesand images with better qualities.

As shown in FIG. 1C, a flash 124 is shown adjacent to the second camera121 b. When an image of a subject is captured with the camera 121 b, theflash 124 may illuminate the subject.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the second audio output module 152 b can be locatedon the terminal body. The second audio output module 152 b may implementstereophonic sound functions in conjunction with the first audio outputmodule 152 a, and may be also used for implementing a speaker phone modefor call communication.

At least one antenna for wireless communication may be located on theterminal body. The antenna may be installed in the terminal body orformed by the case. For example, an antenna which configures a part ofthe broadcast receiving module 111 may be retractable into the terminalbody. Alternatively, an antenna may be formed using a film attached toan inner surface of the rear cover 103, or a case that includes aconductive material.

A power supply unit 190 for supplying power to the mobile terminal 100may include a battery 191, which is mounted in the terminal body ordetachably coupled to an outside of the terminal body. The battery 191may receive power via a power source cable connected to the interfaceunit 160. Also, the battery 191 can be recharged in a wireless mannerusing a wireless charger. Wireless charging may be implemented bymagnetic induction or electromagnetic resonance.

On the other hand, according to the drawing, it is illustrated that arear surface cover 103 is combined with a rear case 102 to cover thebattery so as to restrict the release of the battery 191, and configuredto protect the battery 191 from external shocks and foreign substances.When the battery 191 is detachably configured in a terminal body, therear surface cover 103 may be detachably combined with the rear case102.

An accessory for protecting an appearance of the mobile terminal 100 orfor assisting or extending the function of the mobile terminal 100 maybe added to the mobile terminal 100. For an example of the accessory,there is a touch pen for assisting or extending a touch input to thetouch screen. For another example, there is a pouch or cover forcovering or accommodating at least one surface of the mobile terminal100. The pouch or cover may be configured to extend the function of themobile terminal 100 in connection with the display unit 151.

On the other hand, according to the present disclosure, informationoutput from the mobile terminal may be processed in association with thestructure or function of the pouch or cover (hereinafter, referred to asa “cover”). Hereinafter, it will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views illustrating a mobile terminalaccommodated in a cover according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

According to the drawing, the cover 200 is configured to accommodate abody of the mobile terminal. FIG. 2A illustrates a configuration inwhich the front surface of the mobile terminal is open by the cover 200.The configuration in which the front surface is open becomes aconfiguration in which the display unit 151 disposed on the frontsurface thereof is open.

The cover 200 may include a cover rear surface portion 210 configured toaccommodate a rear surface of the body of the mobile terminal.Furthermore, the cover may include a cover front surface portion 220rotatably connected to the cover rear surface portion 210 to cover oropen the display unit 151.

However, the present disclosure may not be necessarily limited to this,and for example, the cover rear surface portion 210 may be configured tobe combined with a lateral surface of the body, other than to a rearsurface thereof.

Furthermore, the cover 200 may be configured with a structure replacingthe rear surface cover 103 of the terminal body. More specifically, in amobile terminal combined with a battery cover, the cover 200 may becombined with a rear surface portion of the mobile terminal instead ofthe battery cover. In this case, the a coupling protrusion allowing thecover 200 to be detachable as a battery cover may be formed on an innerlateral surface of the cover rear surface portion 210, and a couplinggroove combined with the coupling protrusion may be provided in a rearcase of the terminal.

For another example, in a mobile terminal with a battery cover providedas an integral body therein, the cover 200 may be combined with themobile terminal while covering the battery cover. In this case, acoupling protrusion for coupling the mobile terminal to the cover may bedisposed at another portion other than the cover rear surface portion210.

According to the drawing, the cover rear surface portion 210 may beprotruded from the cover rear surface portion 210 to be integrallyformed with a cover lateral surface portion surrounding a lateralsurface of the terminal. The cover lateral surface portion is protrudedfrom an edge of the main surface of the cover rear surface portion 210to surround the lateral surface of the terminal. More specifically, thecover lateral surface portion may be protruded in a directionperpendicular to the main surface, and formed to partially surround thelateral surface or entirely surround the lateral surface.

According to the drawing, a connecting portion 230 may be protruded andextended from the edge of the cover rear surface portion 210 to theoutside to connect the cover rear surface portion 210 to the cover frontsurface portion 220. The connecting portion 230 may have a narrow widthto be easily warped, and the cover front surface portion 220 may berotated while covering the display unit 151 using the warpage of theconnecting portion 230. In this case, a supporting protrusion bent atone side of the cover rear surface portion 210 to be closely adhered toone side of an edge of the mobile terminal may be provided in theconnecting portion 230.

The connecting portion 230 may be integrally formed with the cover frontsurface portion 220, and combined with the cover rear surface portion210. In this case, the connecting portion 230 may have the same materialas that of the cover front surface portion 220 to be extended from oneside of the cover front surface portion.

For another example, the connecting portion 230 may be integrally formedwith the cover rear surface portion 210, and combined with the coverfront surface portion 220. In this case, the connecting portion 230 mayhave the same material as that of the cover rear surface portion 210 tobe extended from one side of the cover rear surface portion 210.

FIG. 2B illustrates a configuration in which the cover 200 covers thedisplay unit 151 of the mobile terminal.

In a covered configuration, the mobile terminal 100 and cover 200 form adiary like shape to enhance the user's portability. Furthermore, thecover 200 may perform the role of a protective cover surrounding themobile terminal 100, and thus the mobile terminal 100 can be more safelyprotected from external shocks or stimulations.

The cover rear surface portion 210 and cover front surface portion 220may be formed to be disposed in parallel to each other in a coveredconfiguration, and the connecting portion 230 may be formed to blockonly part of a gap formed between the cover rear surface portion 210 andcover front surface portion 220. In this case, the remaining portion ofthe gap may be filled by providing the cover lateral surface portion.

Referring to the drawing, the cover 200 is formed to expose the visualinformation of the display unit 151 while covering the display unit 151.More specifically, referring to FIG. 2B, the cover front surface portion220 may include a window portion 240, and the window portion 240 may bea region made of a light transmitting member. The window portion 240 isformed to display the visual information of the display unit 151 on anouter surface of the window portion 240 due to light transmittance.

The window portion 240 is formed to be overlapped with the display unit151 to display the visual information thereof. More specifically, thewindow portion 240 may be located at an upper portion of the frontsurface of the display unit 151 while the cover front surface portion220 covers the display unit 151. Due to the structure, the user canrecognize icons, text, images and the like displayed on the display unit151 from the outside through the window portion 240.

Furthermore, when an event occurs in the terminal in a state that thecover front surface portion is closed and the display unit 151 isdeactivated, the terminal of the present disclosure may activate aportion corresponding to a region exposed by the window portion 240within the display unit, and the cover 200 may be configured to outputnotification light to the outside using light generated by theactivation of the display unit 151. In this case, a portion exposed tothe outside by the window within a region of the display unit may beactivated to display an additional screen. For such a control operation,a mechanism for converging light output from the display unit 151 togenerate a specific pattern is provided in the cover 200. Hereinafter,the pattern generation mechanism will be described in more detail.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view illustrating a cover in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 4Ais a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2B.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4A, a window hole 221 is formed on the coverfront surface portion 220, and the window portion 240 (refer to FIG. 2Bor 4A) may include a window 241 formed to cover the window hole 221. Thewindow hole 221 may be located at a center line in the length directionof the display unit 151 of the terminal (or center line in the lengthdirection of a front surface of the terminal) while the cover 200 coversthe terminal. However, the present disclosure may not be necessarilylimited to this, and the window portion 240 may be a structure formedonly with the window hole 221 with no window 241.

The window 241 may include an outer surface formed on the same plane asthat of one surface (outer surface: a surface exposed to the outside ina covered configuration) of the cover front surface portion 220, andmade of a material such as glass, transparent silicon, transparenturethane, transparent synthetic resin, and the like.

A mounting surface 222 on which the window 241 is mounted is provided inthe cover front surface portion 220, and the mounting surface 222 may bea surface having a height difference with respect to an outer surface ofthe cover front surface portion, and formed to surround the window hole221.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4A, the cover 200 may include a guide portion250 mounted on the mounting surface 222. The guide portion 250 is formedto guide light output from the display unit 151 to the window portion240.

The window portion 240 is formed to expose at least part of the displayunit 151 to the outside while covering the display. The notificationlight is illuminated at a boundary (or a boundary portion) of the windowportion 240. The notification light is not illuminated at a regionexcluding the boundary of the window portion 240 in the cover 200. Theregion includes a first remaining portion and a second remainingportion. The first remaining portion is a part excluding the boundaryportion in the window portion 240, and the second remaining portion is apart excluding the window portion 240 in the cover 200.

Furthermore, the cover 200 is formed to output the illuminatednotification light at a boundary of the window portion 240. Thenotification light.

The guide portion 250 is configured to cover at least part of thedisplay unit 151 while the cover 200 covers the display unit 151, andformed to diffuse light to a specific region of the window portion 240when light output from the display unit 151 is entered. A specificpattern may be formed on the outside of the cover 200 due to thediffusion of light.

According to the present example, it is disclosed a structure in which acircular pattern is formed along a border of the window portion 240,more particularly, along an edge of the window 241. To this end, thewindow 241 may be a circular shape. Furthermore, the guide portion 250may be formed to be greater than the window portion 240, and formed tocover the surrounding of the window portion 240. For example, the windowportion 240 may be configured with a circular shape, and to this end thewindow 241 is formed with a circular shape. Furthermore, the guideportion 250 is formed to be greater than the window portion 240, andformed to cover the surrounding of the window portion 240.

The guide portion 250 may include a guide sheet 251, for example. Theguide sheet 251 is configured to diffuse light entered to part of onesurface thereof and emit light to a broader region on the other surfacethereof. For such an example, the guide sheet may be a diffusion sheetor diffusion film.

The guide sheet is formed with a diffusion layer by coating on onesurface of the base film, and configured to diffuse light through this,however, for another example, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, a protrusionmay be formed within the guide sheet 251 a.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4A again, the guide sheet 251 is configured tocover any one part of the window portion 240, and a through hole 252corresponding to window portion 240 is formed on the guide sheet 251.For example, the center of the through hole 252 corresponds to thecenter of the window 241, and the size of the through hole 252 is formedto be less than that of the window 241, thereby allowing an overlappingportion overlapped with the window 241 on the guide sheet 251 to form aring-shaped band. Due to such a structure, one surface of the guidesheet 251 may be the mounting surface 222.

In this case, the window portion 240 may include a coupling portion (notshown) for coupling the mounting surface 222 to the window 241. For suchan example, the coupling portion (not shown) may be an adhesive ordouble-sided tape coated only on part of the mounting surface 222. Foranother example, it may be possible to coat a light transmittingadhesive on the entire surface of the mounting surface 222.

According to the drawing, a recess portion 223 recessed along thethickness direction thereof to accommodate the guide sheet 251 is formedon the cover front surface portion 220.

The recess portion 223 may be formed on the other surface (innersurface, an opposite surface to one surface of the cover front surfaceportion 220) of the cover front surface portion 220. In this case, thewindow hole 221 may be formed at the bottom of the recess portion 223.The guide sheet 251 may be configured with a thickness corresponding tothe depth of the recess portion 223, and through this, the guide sheet251 may be disposed on the same plane as that of the other surface ofthe cover front surface portion 220.

In this case, when an event occurs, the controller of the terminal mayturn on a region covered by the guide sheet portion within the displayunit to guide light displayed on the display unit by the guide portion.

Furthermore, the terminal is configured to sense the opening or closingof the display unit 151 by the cover 200. For an example, a magnet (M)is mounted on the cover 200 and a sensor corresponding to the magnet maybe mounted on the terminal. The sensor may be a hole IC for sensing amagnetic field, for example. However, the present disclosure may not benecessarily limited to this, and for example, may recognize the coveringof the cover using a proximity sensor, or recognize the covering of thecover using a luminance sensor. In this manner, allowing the terminal tosense the opening or closing of the display unit 151 by the cover may besimilarly applicable to modified examples or other embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

In this manner, when an event occurs in a covered configuration, thedisplay unit 151 is activated to turn on the covered region. In thiscase, it may be possible to activate the display unit as a whole, andotherwise, to activate part thereof (for example, a portioncorresponding to a region of the guide sheet) and deactivate theremaining region thereof. Due to the activation, light output from thedisplay unit is entered to the guide sheet 251, and the incident lightis diffused to the overlapping portion and emitted to the outside. Thelight emitted to the outside is notification light and the overlappingportion is a ring-shaped band, and thus the notification light forms aring-shaped band. Light may be output for a predetermined period of timewith the maximum amount of light, and the user may view ring-shapedlight to recognize whether or not an event has occurred. In this case,the intensity of light may be adjusted by the user.

The foregoing pattern generation mechanism associated with the presentdisclosure may be configured with a structure according to anotherexample, and the other embodiments or modified examples will bedescribed below. According to the modified examples and embodimentswhich will be described below, the same or similar reference numeralsare designated to the same or similar configurations, and thedescription thereof will be substituted by the earlier description.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view illustrating a cover 300 according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectionalview illustrating a cover in a state that the terminal is closed by thecover in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the cover 300 may include a cover frontsurface portion 320 and a covering layer 360.

The cover front surface portion 320 is formed of a light transmittingmaterial, thereby transmitting light output from the display unit.Furthermore, the cover front surface portion 320 is formed of a materialin which the incident light is diffused therewithin when the light isentered. For such an example, the cover front surface portion 320 may beformed of a material such as transparent silicon, transparent urethane,transparent synthetic resin, and the like.

A window hole 321 is formed on the cover front surface portion 320.However, according to the present example, the window hole 321 may be athrough hole that is not covered by the window. The cover 300 may exposethe visual information of the display unit 151 to the outside whilecovering the display unit 151.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a pattern generation mechanism according tothe present example may be implemented by a structure of the coveringlayer 360.

The covering layer 360 is made of a non-transparent material, and formedon an outer surface of the cover front surface portion 320. The coveringlayer 360 may be a printed layer formed by printing, a deposited layerformed by deposition, or the like.

The covering layer 360 is disposed to cover the cover front surfaceportion 320 and thus a non-transparent region 371 is formed on an outersurface of the cover 300. In this case, the covering layer 360 isconfigured not to cover an edge of the window hole 321 in order to forma transparent region 372 along the edge of the window hole 321. In thiscase, both the non-transparent region 371 and transparent region 372 area diffusion region for diffusing light, and light is emitted from thetransparent region 372 to the outside. In other words, the transparentregion 372 has a ring-shaped band shape formed along the edge of thewindow hole 321, and accordingly, the transparent region 372 may bereferred to as a decoration portion.

According to the present example, when an event occurs in the terminal,the display unit 151 is activated, and light output from the displayunit is entered to a transparent body of the cover front surfaceportion, and the incident light is diffused from the transparent bodyand emitted to the outside from the transparent region 372. The lightemitted to the outside will be notification light, and since thetransparent region 372 is a ring-shaped band, the notification lightforms a ring-shaped band.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view illustrating a cover according to stillanother embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 8 is across-sectional view illustrating a cover in a state that the terminalis closed by the cover in FIG. 7.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a window hole 421 is formed on the coverfront surface portion 420, and the window portion 440 may include awindow 441 formed to cover the window hole 421. The window 441 mayinclude an outer surface formed on the same plane as that of one surface(outer surface: a surface exposed to the outside in a coveredconfiguration) of the cover front surface portion 420, and made of amaterial such as glass, transparent silicon, transparent urethane,transparent synthetic resin, and the like.

A mounting surface 422 on which the window 441 is mounted is provided inthe cover front surface portion 420, and the mounting surface 422 may bea surface having a height difference with respect to an outer surface ofthe cover front surface portion, and formed to surround the window hole421.

According to the drawing of FIGS. 7 and 8, the cover 400 may include anedge region 480 to output light output from the display unit 151 of theterminal to the outside. To this end, the edge region 480 may be formedof a light transmitting material. The edge region 480 will be atransparent region, and the remaining region excluding the windowportion 440 and edge region 480 will be a non-transparent region.

Furthermore, the cover 400 may include a guide portion 450 at least partof which is exposed while covering the display unit 151 to guide lightoutput from the display unit 151 to the edge region 480.

The guide portion 450 is configured to diffuse light entered to partthereof to emit the light from another part thereof. For such anexample, the guide portion 450 may include a diffusion sheet ordiffusion film.

More specifically, the guide portion 450 is formed to expose at leastpart thereof on an inner surface of the cover front surface portion 420,and the exposed portion is configured to cover the display unit 151 inthe covered configuration. Furthermore, the guide portion 450 is formedsuch that at least part thereof is overlapped with the edge region 480.Due to the structure, the guide portion 450 guides light output from thedisplay unit 151 to the edge region 480.

As illustrated in the present example, the edge region 480 of the coverfront surface portion 420 is a transparent material, and the remainingportion thereof may be formed of a non-transparent material. In thiscase, a pattern generation mechanism may be implemented by a structurein which the diffusion sheet covers the display unit 151 along with theedge region 480. However, the present disclosure may not be necessarilylimited to this, and for example, it may be also possible to have astructure in which the diffusion sheet is protruded from an edge of thecover front surface portion 420 and partially exposed to the outside togenerate light from the protruded portion. For another example, thecover front surface portion 420 has a transparent material, but acovering layer may be formed on one surface of the cover front surfaceportion excluding the edge region.

Furthermore, the cover of the present disclosure is configured to sensea user's touch input in response to the pattern generation. Hereinafter,the foregoing structure will be described. FIGS. 9A and 9B areconceptual views illustrating according to another embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

According to the drawing, the cover 500 may include a window portion 540and a touch sensing portion 590. More specifically, the window portion540 is a region for exposing the visual information of the display unitto the outside, and the touch sensing portion 590 may be a region forsensing the user's touch input.

For an example, the cover front surface portion 520 of the cover 500 maybe formed of a different material according to the region thereof toform the touch sensing portion 590. For example, the touch sensingportion 590 may be formed of a conductive material to sense a touchinput to the touch sensing portion 590 on the touch screen of theterminal. In this case, the other portion of the cover front surfaceportion 520 may be formed of a non-conductive material.

For another example, the cover front surface portion 520 has the samematerial, but the touch sensing portion 590 may include a conductivepigment.

For still another example, it may be also possible to have a structurein which the cover front surface portion 520 has the same material, buta conductive material is coated on the touch sensing portion 590, andthe touch sensing portion is formed with an elastic material to bebrought into contact with the display unit.

For yet still another example, the cover front surface portion 520 maybe configured to have a different thickness from the other portionthereof on the touch sensing portion 590. For example, the touch sensingportion 590 may be configured to have a low thickness than that of theother portion. To this end, the touch sensing portion 590 may be formedto be recessed on an outer surface of the cover front surface portion520.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 9B, the touch sensing portion 590 mayinclude an additional touch sensor (not shown) mounted on the coverfront surface portion 520. In this case, when the cover is mounted onthe terminal, a wiring line 591 for electrically connecting the touchsensor (not shown) to the controller of the terminal may be providedtherein.

The wiring line 591 may be extended from the touch sensor of the coverfront surface portion 520 and connected to the cover rear surfaceportion through a connecting portion. A connecting terminal 591 aconnected to the wiring line 591 is provided in the cover rear surfaceportion, and a connecting terminal (not shown) brought into contact withthe connecting terminal 591 a during the mounting of the cover rearsurface portion is disposed on the terminal body.

The foregoing terminal body and cover may provide a new user interfaceusing the opening or closing of the cover, touch input and patterngeneration and the like to the user. Hereinafter, the user interfaceswill be described in more detail.

A mobile terminal having any one of the foregoing structures of FIGS. 3,5, 7, 9A and 9B is configured to diffuse light generated by theactivation of the display unit 151 and output notification light to theoutside when an event occurs while the display unit 151 is deactivated,at least part of the display unit 151 is activated. Here, at least partof the activated display unit may be a window region, a region disposedwith the guide portion or the like, for example. The notification lightmay be emitted to the outside through the guide sheet including adiffusion material provided in the guide portion 250 formed to cover thesurrounding of the window portion 240. Here, the at least part thereofmay be a region corresponding to a place located with a window disposedat the foregoing cover or an edge region of the window.

For the control operation, a mechanism for converging light output fromthe display unit 151 to generate a specific pattern is provided in thecover 200, and the description of the pattern generation mechanism willbe substituted by the earlier description of FIGS. 2A, 2B, 4A and 4B.

Hereinafter, when an event occurs on the mobile terminal, a method ofoutputting the information using the pattern generation mechanism willbe described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.FIG. 10 is a flow char for explaining a method of providing a userinterface notifying the occurrence of an event using a cover in a mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIGS.11A and 11B are conceptual views for explaining FIG. 10.

When an event occurs in a mobile terminal according to presentdisclosure (S710), the controller 180 senses whether or not the displayunit is hidden by the cover (S720).

Here, “event” denotes the occurrence of an event having an effect on theoperation of at least one application installed on the mobile terminal,the occurrence of an event changing information stored in a database (ordata file) associated with the at least one application, or theoccurrence of an event transmitting or sending data to an externalterminal or external network (or external server) through the at leastone application. For example, “received a call”, “received a message” orthe like may be an example of the event.

Furthermore, the “event” may occur in association with the operation ofthe mobile terminal or the status of the mobile terminal in addition tooccurring in association with an application installed on the mobileterminal. For example, when the battery charge amount of the mobileterminal is less than a predetermined reference value, the mobileterminal may generate an event to notify information on the batteryamount. For an other example, even when the wireless communication unit110 of the mobile terminal gets out of or into a wireless communicationnetwork, an event may occur. In this manner, an event may occur invarious cases associated with the driving, operation and status of themobile terminal, and according to the present specification, the type ofan event is not restricted to the foregoing examples, and it should beunderstood that “an event has occurred” in case where there exists or isgenerated or received information to be notified to the user from themobile terminal.

On the other hand, whether or not the display unit is hidden by thecover 200 when an event occurs may be sensed in various ways and as anexample, a magnet may be mounted on the cover 200 and a sensorcorresponding to the magnet may be mounted on the mobile terminal. Here,the sensor may be a hole IC for sensing a magnetic field. Accordingly,the controller 180 may sense whether or not the display unit 151 isclosed by the cover 200 based on a signal sensed by the sensorcorresponding to the magnet. For another example, the mobile terminalmay recognize whether or not the cover 200 is covered by the displayunit 151 using a proximity sensor or luminance sensor.

On the other hand, as in the steps of S710 and 720, if the display unitis covered by the cover when an event occurs on the mobile terminal as aresult of the sensing, then notification light notifying that an eventhas occurred is output in a boundary region of the window portionprovided in the cover (S730).

More specifically, the controller 180 may turn on a display region ofthe display unit corresponding to the boundary region of the windowportion to generate light. The generated light is guided by a diffusionsheet (or diffusion material) included in the guide sheet portion andemitted to the outside from the boundary region of the window portion.Here, notification light may be implemented by the guide sheet 251included in the guide portion 250, and configured to diffuse lightentered to part of one surface thereof and emit light to a broaderregion on the other surface thereof as illustrated in FIG. 3. Here, theguide sheet may be a diffusion sheet or diffusion film.

On the other hand, the notification light may be formed in the boundaryregion of window portion by a diffusion member.

According to the present disclosure, a pattern generation mechanism isimplemented in coupling to a cover having the foregoing structure, andwhen an event occurs while the display unit 151 is closed by the cover200, the display unit 151 is activated to turn on a region covered bythe cover 200. Then, light output from the display unit 151 is enteredto the guide sheet 251, and the incident light is diffused to theoverlapping portion and emitted to the outside. In other words, lightemitted to the outside will be notification light having a ring shape inthe boundary region of window portion 240.

On the other hand, the process of outputting event informationcorresponding to the occurred event may be carried out based on apredetermined type of touch applied to one region 151′ of the displayunit (S740).

Here, event information may be brief information including at least oneof a name of the application that has generated an event and a graphicimage representing the application, detailed information including thecontent of the generated event, or the like. Meanwhile, it may be alsopossible to output event information from one region 151′ of the displayunit while at the same time outputting notification light 310.

On the other hand, during the step of S720, while the display unit 151is not hidden by the cover, event information may be immediatelydisplayed on the display unit 151. In this case, the event informationmay be also output through a pop-up window. Moreover, the method ofoutputting the event information may be varied in various ways accordingto the setting of the mobile terminal.

More specifically, referring to the accompanying drawing, when thedisplay unit 151 is closed by the cover 200 when an event occurs on themobile terminal as illustrated in FIG. 11A(a), notification light 310 isoutput in the boundary region of window portion 240. In other words, ifa configuration in which the display unit 151 is closed by the cover 200is sensed when an event occurs on the mobile terminal, then thecontroller 180 activates at least one region of the display unit 151 tooutput the notification light 310 in the boundary region of windowportion 240. Accordingly, the user may recognize that an event hasoccurred on the mobile terminal through the notification light 310 evenwhen the display unit 151 is closed by the cover 200.

On the other hand, in a mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure, when an event occurs on the mobile terminal while thedisplay unit 151 is closed by the cover 200, event informationassociated with the occurred event may be output through one region 151′of the display unit exposed to the outside by the window portion 240 asillustrated in FIG. 11A(b) in addition to a method of exhibiting thenotification light 310 in the boundary region of window portion 240 asdescribed in FIG. 11A(a). Here, event information may be briefinformation including at least one of a name of the application that hasgenerated an event and a graphic image representing the application,detailed information including the content of the generated event, orthe like. Meanwhile, it may be also possible to output event informationfrom one region 151′ of the display unit while at the same timeoutputting notification light 310. Furthermore, on the contrary, theevent information may be output based on a predetermined type of touchapplied to one region 151′ of the display unit while the output ofnotification light is maintained subsequent to outputting thenotification light. Furthermore, the event information may be outputbased on a predetermined type of touch applied to one region 151′ of thedisplay unit after the output of notification light is terminated. Inother words, the event information may be output at various time points.

Here, a predetermined type of touch may be a slide touch extended fromany one position to another position, a tap touch hitting one region151′ of the display unit at least one or more times, and the like.

Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, the controller 180 maycontrol the display unit 151 to illuminate notification light 310 whileat the same time displaying event information or control the display ofthe event information and the output of the notification light 310 in anindependent manner. Meanwhile, the output of the notification light 310may be terminated subsequent to displaying it only for a predeterminedperiod of time. Furthermore, if it is prior to checking the occurredevent, the output thereof may be terminated subsequent to displaying thenotification light 310 at reference time intervals or displaying it forthe predetermined period of time, or the output thereof may becontinuously maintained until the event is checked.

Furthermore, though not shown in the drawing, when event informationcorresponding to brief information is displayed in one region 151′ ofthe display unit, it may be possible to further output event informationcorresponding to detailed information based on a touch to one region151′ of the display unit.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B, in order tooutput notification light 310 guided by the guide sheet 251 on theboundary of the window portion 240, the controller 180 may activate aregion 310 a (refer to FIG. 11B) overlapped with the guide sheet 251within a display region of the display unit 151 covered by the windowportion 240 to emit light. Here, the activated display region may not benecessarily overlapped with the guide sheet 251 in an accurate manner.

In other words, the display unit 151 may be divided into an activatedregion 310 a corresponding to a portion overlapped with the guide sheet251 and a deactivated region corresponding to a portion that is notoverlapped with the guide sheet 251.

On the other hand, when the display unit 151 is hidden by the cover 200,information on a light emitting region for illuminating light to outputnotification light 310 in the boundary region of window portion 240within a display region of the display unit 151 may be previously storedin the memory 170 or the like. Information on the light emitting regionmay be information on which locations provided with the window portion240, guide sheet 251 and the like on the cover 200 are taken intoconsideration. Accordingly, when an event occurs on the mobile terminalwhile the display unit 151 is closed by the cover 200, the controller180 may illuminate the light emitting region on the basis of informationon the light emitting region, thereby forming notification light 310 inthe boundary region of window portion 240.

On the other hand, the controller may recognize the type of a covercurrently mounted on the terminal based on the location of a magnetmounted on the cover 200. Information on the recognized cover maypreviously exist in the memory 170, and the information on the cover mayinclude the location information and shape information of a windowdisposed on the cover. The controller 180 may determine which region ofthe display unit is to be illuminated to form the notification light 310in consideration of the information on the cover. The window portion mayhave various shapes, and may be formed with a shape such as a circle, arectangle, a triangle, and the like.

On the other hand, the controller 180 may recognize a cover mounted withthe magnet using a hole IC for sensing a magnetic field.

On the other hand, in a mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure, notification light formed on the boundary of the windowportion may be controlled in various ways according to the type, numberor the like of events, thereby providing more detailed information onthe events. Hereinafter, it will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C areconceptual views for explaining a method of notifying the occurrence ofan event in a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure.

The output method (for example, color or turn-on method, etc.) ofnotification light 310 output from the boundary region of the windowportion 240 may be varied according to the color or turn-on method oflight output from the display unit 151. Accordingly, the controller 180may control the color or turn-on method output from the display unit 151or the brightness or intensity of color output from the display unit 151according to the type of event or the number of occurred events, therebycontrolling more detailed information on the event to the user.

For an example, as illustrated in FIGS. 12A(a) and 12A(b), thecontroller 180 may control the display unit to vary the color ofnotification light output from the boundary of the window portionaccording to the type of the occurred event. In other words, thecontroller 180 my control the display unit 151 to output notificationlight with a unique color for each event. For example, the controller180 may control the display unit 151 to form notification light with afirst color (for example, green) when a first type of event (forexample, message receive event) has occurred as illustrated in FIG.12A(a), and control the display unit 151 to form notification light witha second color (for example, red) which is different from the firstcolor when a second type of event (for example, missed call receiveevent) which is different from the first type has occurred asillustrated in FIG. 12A(b). Meanwhile, the unique color for each eventmay be determined based on the user's selection. For example, accordingto the present disclosure, the user may select which color ofnotification light is to be formed for which type of event. Accordingly,though not shown in the drawing, according to the present disclosure, asetting screen for selecting a unique color for each event may beprovided. Through this, the user can easily recognize which type ofevent has occurred only with the color of notification light.

Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, even though thecontent of the occurred event is not displayed, it may be possible toprovide information on the occurred event to the user who has recognizedthe unique color based on the event. As a result, the user can receiveevent information through the color recognized only by him or herwithout exposing the information of a currently occurred event to athird party while keeping his or her privacy.

For another example, a mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure may control the turn-on method of light output from thedisplay unit 151 to vary the turn-on method of notification light formedon the boundary of the window portion according to the type of theoccurred event. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the window portion 240 isformed of a circular shape, and an image sequentially turned on along anouter circumference of the window portion 240 is formed on the displayunit 151, and such an image is formed when turning on the display unit151. The controller 180 may provide information on an event using animage sequentially turned on. For example, when a first type of event(for example, message receive event) has occurred, the controller 180may sequentially turn on light in a first direction on the basis of avirtual reference axis (a) as illustrated in FIGS. 12B(a) and 12B(b).Furthermore, when a second type of event (for example, missed callreceive event) has occurred, the controller 180 may sequentially turn on(or illuminate) light in a second direction which is different from thefirst direction on the basis of a virtual reference axis (a) asillustrated in FIGS. 12B(c) and 12B(d). As a result, the user can moreeasily know the type of the occurred event according to the direction offorming notification light. Furthermore, when a first type of event (forexample, message receive event) has occurred, the controller 180 mayturn on light on the display unit 151 to form notification light in theboundary region of window, and then turn on the display unit 151 to formnotification light notifying the second type of event in an inner regionof the notification light output in the boundary region. In this manner,the notification light may be sequentially formed in an inner regionfrom the outermost region of the window portion.

On the other hand, even in the above case, the user can select adirection in which notification light is sequentially formed accordingto the type of event as illustrated in FIG. 12A. Moreover, though notshown in the drawing, according to the present disclosure, a time pointat which the turn-on of notification light is started as well as adirection in which notification light is formed may be varied accordingto the type of event. In this manner, a time point at which the turn-onof notification light is started can be selected from the user.

For another example, in a mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure, a speed for turning on notification light may vary for eachevent, thereby controlling more detailed information on the event. Morespecifically, the controller 180 may control a speed at whichnotification light is turned on (for example, a turn-on speed at whichan image for forming the notification light is displayed on the displayunit) with a first speed when the occurred event is a first type ofevent (for example, an event associated with a first application), andcontrol a speed at which notification light is turned on (for example, aturn-on speed at which an image for forming the notification light isdisplayed on the display unit) with a second speed which is differentfrom the first speed when the occurred event is a second type of event(for example, an event associated with a second application) which isdifferent from the first type of event.

In the above examples, a method of varying the color, turn-on directionand turn-on speed of notification light according to the type of eventhas been described in an independent manner, but at least two or morecombinations of the above examples may be implemented according to thepresent disclosure. In other words, the color of notification light maybe varied according to the type of event and moreover, the turn-ondirection thereof may be also varied.

On the other hand, in a mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure, when a plurality of events are received for the same type ofevents (for example, when a plurality of messages are received in amessage receive event), the intensity (or brightness) of notificationlight may be varied to provide more detailed information on the event.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12C(a), the controller 180 mayoutput first darkness of light on the display unit 151 when one messageis received, and output second darkness of light which is darker thanthe first darkness on the display unit 151 when two messages arereceived. Through this, the notification light 310 with a differentdarkness may be formed in the boundary region of window portion 240. Thecontroller 180 may control the amount of current flowing through thedisplay unit 151, thereby allowing the brightness of output light to bevaried.

Furthermore, when the occurred event is associated with the status of amobile terminal, the controller 180 may control the display unit 151such that the intensity (or brightness) of notification light is variedbased on the status level of the mobile terminal (for example, occurredevent: an event associated with battery charge, the status level of themobile terminal: battery charge amount).

Though examples of outputting notification light have been illustratedfor the examples described along with FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C, thepresent disclosure may not be necessarily limited to the foregoingillustrations, and it may be also possible to output event informationalong with notification light as described in FIG. 11A(b).

Furthermore, on the contrary, the event information may be output basedon a predetermined type of touch applied to one region 151′ of thedisplay unit while maintaining the output of notification lightsubsequent to outputting the notification light. Furthermore, the eventinformation may be output based on a predetermined type of touch appliedto one region 151′ of the display unit subsequent to terminating thenotification light. In other words, the event information may be outputat various time points.

Hereinafter, a method of more effectively notifying the existence of aplurality of events to the user using notification light when thereexist a plurality of different types of unchecked events at a time pointat which the notification light is displayed will be described in moredetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 13A, 13B, 14A,14B, 14C and 14D are conceptual views for explaining a method ofnotifying the occurrence of a plurality of events in a mobile terminalaccording to the present disclosure. In the following examples, apattern generation mechanism for outputting notification light followsthe description of FIGS. 10, 11A, 11B, 12A, 12B and 12C.

According to the present disclosure, when there exist a plurality ofnotification target events to be guided through notification light, thenotification light is output with a plurality of colors, therebynotifying the user that there are a plurality of notification targetevents. Here, notification target event may denote a currently occurredevent and an event that has occurred prior to a time point at whichnotification light is output in response to the currently occurred eventbut unchecked. In this manner, when there exist a plurality ofnotification target events, the controller 180 may partition an outercircumference of the window portion 240 into a plurality of regionsbased on the number of the plurality of events. Furthermore, thecontroller 180 may control the display unit such that notification lightwith different colors are output around the plurality of partitionedregions.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13A(a), when there exist twonotification target events, the controller 180 may control the displayunit 151 such that notification light 310 a, 310 b are formed with twodifferent colors to notify that there exist two notification targetevents. At this time, images corresponding to two colors are displayedon the display unit 151 to form notification light corresponding to theimages in the boundary region of window portion 240.

On the other hand, in a state that the notification light 310 a, 310 bare formed with two different colors, when a touch started from oneposition of one region 151′ of the display unit corresponding to thewindow portion 240 is dragged (or slid) in a direction in which eitherone of the notification light 310 a, 310 b is formed with the twodifferent colors, the event information of an event corresponding to theeither one of notification light may be output. Here, one position fromwhich the drag (or slide) touch is started may be a central portion ofthe one region 151′ of the display unit.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 13A(b), where there existfour notification target events, the controller 180 may control thedisplay unit 151 such that notification light 310 a, 310 b, 310 c, 310 dare formed with four different color to notify that there exist fournotification target events. At this time, images corresponding to fourcolors may be displayed on the display unit 151.

Here, the different colors may be determined based on the plurality oftypes of events, and information on the different colors may be storedand existed in the memory in connection with the information of anapplication corresponding to the plurality of events, respectively.

In other words, the controller 180 may control the display unit 151 toilluminate notification light with a unique color for each event. Aunique color for each event may be determined based on the user'sselection. For example, according to the present disclosure, the usermay select which color of notification light is to be formed for whichtype of event. Accordingly, though not shown in the drawing, accordingto the present disclosure, a setting screen for selecting a unique colorfor each event may be provided. Through this, the user can easilyrecognize which type of event has occurred only with the color ofnotification light.

In this manner, according to the present disclosure, where there exist aplurality of notification target events, notification light may beformed with a plurality of colors corresponding to the number ofnotification target events to more effectively notify it to the user.Accordingly, the user may know at a glance which number of events hasoccurred only with the number of colors of notification light, and whichevent has occurred only with a unique color corresponding to the event.

On the other hand, a mobile terminal according to the present disclosuremay additionally a graphic object in a region corresponding to a regionin which notification light is output as illustrated in FIGS. 13A(c) and13A(d) in addition to a method of displaying a graphic image formed withnotification light on the display unit 151. More specifically, thecontroller 180 may display graphic objects displayed with the same coloras that of the notification light in one region 151′ of the display unitas illustrated in FIG. 13A(c). Moreover, the controller 180 may evenlydivide one region 151′ of the display unit into regions corresponding tothe number of the occurred events, thereby displaying a graphic imagewith the same color as that of the notification light formed in a regionadjacent to each region.

Moreover, in this case, when a central portion of the region isselected, the controller 180 may output all the information of aplurality of occurred events, thereby showing the event information in acollective manner. Furthermore, when each region thereof is individuallyselected, the controller 180 may output only event informationcorresponding to the selected individual region in one region 151′ ofthe display unit.

For another example, according to the present disclosure, when thereexist a plurality of notification target events, it may be possible tosequentially output notification light relevant to a unique color foreach event. For example, when there exist two notification target eventsrelevant to a first and a second type of events, the controller 180 maycontrol the display unit 151 to form a first color of notification lightcorresponding to a first type of event (for example, an event associatedwith a first application), and then control the display unit 151 to forma second color of notification light corresponding to a second type ofevent (for example, an event associated with a second application). Inother words, the controller 180 may control the display unit 151 tosequentially form notification light relevant to a first and a secondcolor. Moreover, controller 180 may form notification light relevant toa first color again as illustrated in FIG. 13B(c) after an outputmaintaining time of notification light corresponding to a second colorhas passed. Furthermore, when there exists a third type of event, thecontroller 180 may control the display unit 151 to form notificationlight relevant to the third color corresponding to the third type ofevent as illustrated in FIG. 13B(d). Meanwhile, in the description ofFIGS. 13A and 13B, it is not illustrated an example of outputting eventinformation described along with FIG. 11A(b), but even in cases relevantto FIGS. 13A and 13B, event information may be output in one region 151′of the display unit along with notification light.

Hereinafter, a method of outputting event information in an exampledescribed along with FIG. 13A will be described in more detail

As described above, according to the present disclosure, when an eventoccurs, the controller 180 may control the display unit to outputnotification light based on color information in connection with theoccurred event. Moreover, the controller 180 may output eventinformation (for example, application information, status information,etc.) corresponding to an event generated in one region 151′ of thedisplay unit along with the notification light.

For example, the controller 180 may display icons 311, 312, 313, 314representing events relevant to the relevant notification light on oneregion 151′ of the display unit exposed through the window portion tocorrespond to a location formed with the relevant notification light ina state that notification light made of a plurality of colors is outputon an outer circumference of the window portion 240 as illustrated inFIGS. 14A and 14B. Here, the displayed icons 311, 312, 313, 314 arearranged along the outer circumference of the window portion.

In particular, when notification light made of a plurality of colors areoutput on an outer circumference of the window portion 240 and the apredetermined type of touch is applied to the window portion within apredetermined period of time, the controller 180 may display a pluralityof icons 311, 312, 313, 314 representing applications corresponding tothe plurality of events, respectively.

Moreover, when any one icon is selected while a plurality of icons aredisplayed thereon (refer to FIG. 14B(a)), the controller 180 may displaythe detailed information of an event corresponding to the selected iconon the exposed region 151′ exposed through the window portion of thedisplay unit as illustrated in FIG. 14B(b).

Moreover, according to the present disclosure, when any one of theplurality of icons is selected to provide information on which one is anevent currently displayed with the detailed information, notificationlight made of a plurality of colors along an outer circumference of thewindow portion may be switched to a color in connection with an event(or application) corresponding to the selected icon.

On the other hand, when detailed information on any one event isdisplayed through the selection of the icon among a plurality ofnotification target events, the event displayed with the detailedinformation is regarded as a checked one. Accordingly, the output of anicon relevant to the event displayed with the detailed information isterminated, and notification light relevant to the event displayed withthe detailed information is no more formed as illustrated in FIG.14B(c). In other words, the controller 180 may control the display unit151 not to form notification light relevant to the event displayed withthe detailed information.

In other words, different colors constituting notification light mayrepresent the plurality of notification target events, respectively, andthus the controller 180 may exclude a color corresponding to a checkedevent among the plurality of notification target events from a pluralityof different colors constituting notification light.

For another example, when the predetermined type of touch (for example,flicking, sliding, dragging touch, etc.) is applied again to the windowportion as illustrated in FIG. 14C(b) while displaying detailedinformation on any one of the plurality of notification target events asillustrated in FIG. 14C(a), the controller 180 may switch detailedinformation displayed on the display unit (or exposed region 151′) todetailed information on another one of the plurality of notificationtarget events as illustrated in FIG. 14C(c). Furthermore, when theoutput of detailed information on a notification target event iscompleted, basic information (or default information) may be displayedon the exposed region 151′ of the display unit as illustrated in FIG.14C(d).

On the other hand, according to the present disclosure, icons displayedalong with the foregoing notification light may be displayed with colorsin connection with an application (or type of event) corresponding to aplurality of icons, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 14D. In otherwords, the controller 180 may output images relevant to colors inconnection with each icon or display an icon itself with a color tone inconnection therewith around the icons.

In the above description, a method of forming notification lightnotifying the occurrence of an event in a mobile terminal covered by acover guided by the guide sheet 251 to form the notification light 310on the boundary of the window portion 240 has been described.

On the other hand, according to the present disclosure, the display unit151 may be controlled to immediately form notification light withoutguiding light output from the display unit 151 by the guide sheet 251 toform notification light in addition to a method of guiding light outputfrom the display unit 151 by the guide sheet 251 to form notificationlight. In this manner, a pattern generation mechanism for forming lightoutput from the display unit 151 as notification light may beimplemented by the structure of a cover according to FIG. 5 or carriedout by controlling the display unit 151.

A method of outputting notification light according to a patterngeneration mechanism formed by the structure of FIG. 5 may be carriedout similarly to the description illustrated in FIGS. 10, 11A, 11B, 12A,12B, 12C, 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D, and thus the detaileddescription thereof will be omitted below.

Furthermore, a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure mayoutput a circular shaped graphic image along an outer circumference ofthe window portion 240 within the exposed region 240 a to formnotification light. In other words, in this case, the output of agraphic image may substitute the role of notification light. Forexample, As illustrated in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the controller 180 maydisplay a graphic image relevant to a specific color in the boundaryregion of window portion 240.

More specifically, referring to the accompanying drawings, asillustrated in FIG. 15A, in case where the display unit 151 is coveredby the cover 200 when an event occurs, a graphic image 410 (ornotification light) relevant to a specific color is output in a regionrelevant to the boundary portion of the window portion 240 within theexposed region 151′ of the display unit. In other words, upon sensing aconfiguration in which the display unit 151 is covered by the cover 200when an event occurs on the mobile terminal, the controller 180activates at least one region of the display unit 151 to display thegraphic image 410 on the boundary portion of the window portion 240.Accordingly, the user can recognize that an event has occurred on themobile terminal through the graphic image 410 even when the display unit151 is covered by the cover 200.

On the other hand, in a mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure, when an event occurs while the display unit 151 is coveredby the cover 200, in addition to a method of exhibiting the graphicimage 410 on the boundary portion of the window portion 240 asillustrated in FIG. 15A, event information associated with the occurredevent may be displayed along with the graphic image 410 on the exposedregion 151′ as illustrated in FIG. 15B. Here, event information may bebrief information including at least one of a name of the applicationthat has generated an event and a graphic image representing theapplication, detailed information including the content of the generatedevent, or the like. Meanwhile, it may be possible to output eventinformation from the exposed region 151′ while at the same timeoutputting the graphic image 410. Furthermore, on the contrary, theevent information may be output based on a predetermined type of touchapplied to the exposed region 151′ while the output of notificationlight is maintained subsequent to outputting the notification light.Furthermore, the event information may be output based on apredetermined type of touch applied to the exposed region 151′ after theoutput of the graphic image is terminated. In other words, the eventinformation may be output at various time points. Furthermore, accordingto the present disclosure, the controller 180 may control the displayunit 151 to display the graphic image 410 while at the same timedisplaying event information or control the display of the eventinformation and the output of the graphic image 410 in an independentmanner. Meanwhile, the output of the notification light 310 may beterminated subsequent to displaying it only for a predetermined periodof time. Furthermore, if it is prior to checking the occurred event, theoutput thereof may be terminated subsequent to displaying thenotification light 310 at reference time intervals or displaying it forthe predetermined period of time, or the output thereof may becontinuously maintained until the event is checked.

Furthermore, though not shown in the drawing, when event informationcorresponding to brief information is displayed in the exposed region151′ of the display unit, it may be possible to further output eventinformation corresponding to detailed information based on a touch tothe exposed region 151′ of the display unit.

Furthermore, in a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure,when a touch is applied to one region 151 a of the display unit whileoutputting the notification light 410 as illustrated in FIG. 15A, briefinformation or detailed information on the occurred event will bedisplayed as illustrated in FIG. 15B.

On the other hand, when the display unit 151 is hidden by the cover 200,information on a region to be displayed with a graphic image may bepreviously stored and existed in the memory 170 to output notificationlight 410 (or graphic image) on the boundary region portion of thewindow portion 240 within a display region of the display unit 151. Theinformation on the exposed region may be information on which a locationdisposed with the window portion 240 or the like is taken intoconsideration. Accordingly, when an event occurs on the mobile terminalwhile the display unit 151 is covered by the cover 200, the controller180 may display a graphic image in a region relevant to an outercircumference of the window portion 240, thereby providing informationon the event.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, a control method of displaying notificationlight and icons according to the type, number or the like of eventsdescribed along with FIGS. 10, 11A, 11B, 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B,14C and 14D may be also applicable to a case where a graphic imagerelevant to notification light is displayed in the boundary region ofwindow portion 240, and the detailed description thereof will besubstituted by the description of FIGS. 10, 11A, 11B, 12A, 12B, 13A,13B, 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are conceptual views for explaining a method ofnotifying the occurrence of an event using another region of the coverin a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure.

Referring to the drawings, when an event occurs on the mobile terminal,notification light 510 is output on the edge region 480 (refer to FIG.7) of the cover 200.

As illustrated in the present example, even when outputting notificationlight on the edge region thereof, a control method described withreference to FIG. 10 will be applicable thereto. For example, when anevent occurs on the mobile terminal according to the present disclosure,the controller 180 senses whether or not the display unit is hidden bythe cover. In this manner, upon sensing a configuration in which thedisplay unit is covered by the cover is sensed when an event occurs onthe mobile terminal, notification light notifying that the event hasoccurred is output on the edge region 480 of the cover provided in thecover.

Here, notification light may be implemented by the guide sheet(diffusion sheet or diffusion film) included in the guide portion 450,and configured to diffuse light entered to part of one surface thereofand emit light to a broader region on the other surface thereof asillustrated in FIG. 7.

According to the present disclosure, a pattern generation mechanism isimplemented in coupling to a cover having the foregoing structure, andwhen an event occurs while the display unit 151 is closed by the cover200, the display unit 151 is activated to turn on a region covered bythe cover 200. Then, light output from the display unit 151 is enteredto the guide portion 250, and the incident light is diffused to the edgeregion 480 and emitted to the outside. In other words, light emitted tothe outside will be notification light having a ring shape in the edgeregion 480. Accordingly, even when the display unit 151 is covered bythe cover 200, the user can recognize that an event has occurred on themobile terminal through the notification light 510.

Furthermore, though not shown in the drawing, when there exist aplurality of events, the controller 180 may control the display unit 151such that light diffused to the edge region 480 is emitted with aplurality of colors corresponding to the plurality of events. In otherwords, the edge region 480 may be divided into a plurality of regions toemit light representing different events, respectively, in each region.In other words, an outer region of the display unit 151 is divided intoa plurality of regions to display images with different colors.

Furthermore, event information on an event that has occurred in aconfiguration in which the cover 200 is covered may be displayed on thedisplay unit 151 when the display unit 151 is exposed to the outside,namely, when the cover 200 is open. The controller 180 may display thesummary information of the occurred events in a list format or in anicon or widget format. The event information may be displayed on a homescreen page or lock screen. Moreover, the event information may bedisplayed in the form of a pop-up window on the home screen page or lockscreen.

On the other hand, in a mobile terminal according to the presentdisclosure, when an event occurs on the mobile terminal while thedisplay unit 151 is closed by the cover 200, event informationassociated with the occurred event may be output through the exposedregion 151′ of the display unit exposed to the outside by the windowportion 240 in addition to a method of exhibiting the notification light510 in the edge region 480 as illustrated in FIG. 16B(a). Here, eventinformation may be brief information including at least one of a name ofthe application that has generated an event and a graphic imagerepresenting the application, detailed information including the contentof the generated event, or the like. Meanwhile, it may be also possibleto output event information from the exposed region 151′ of the displayunit while at the same time outputting notification light 510.Furthermore, on the contrary, the event information may be output basedon a predetermined type of touch applied to the exposed region 151′ ofthe display unit while the output of notification light is maintainedsubsequent to outputting the notification light. Furthermore, the eventinformation may be output based on a predetermined type of touch appliedto the exposed region 151′ of the display unit after the output ofnotification light is terminated. In other words, the event informationmay be output at various time points.

Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, the controller 180 maycontrol the display unit 151 to illuminate notification light 510 whileat the same time displaying event information or control the display ofthe event information and the output of the notification light 510 in anindependent manner. Meanwhile, the output of the notification light 510may be terminated subsequent to displaying it only for a predeterminedperiod of time. Furthermore, if it is prior to checking the occurredevent, the output thereof may be terminated subsequent to displaying thenotification light 510 at reference time intervals or displaying it forthe predetermined period of time, or the output thereof may becontinuously maintained until the event is checked.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 16B(b), in addition to amethod of exhibiting the notification light 510 on the edge region 480,the notification light 310 may be output in the boundary region ofwindow portion 240, thereby notifying that an event has occurred.

More specifically, when an event occurs, the notification light 510 ofthe edge region 480 and the notification light 310 of the boundaryregion may be output at the same time. In this case, the terminal andcover may include at least one of mechanisms described in FIGS. 3through 6 and a mechanism described in FIGS. 7 and 8.

For still another example, when an event occurs, the notification light510 of the edge region 480 and the notification light 310 of theboundary region may be sequentially output. More specifically, thecontroller 180 may control the display unit 151 to form either one ofthe notification light 510 of the edge region 480 and the notificationlight 310 of the boundary region when a first type of event (forexample, message receive event) has occurred, and then control thedisplay unit 151 to form the other one of the notification light 510 ofthe edge region 480 and the notification light 310 of the boundaryregion when a second type of event (for example, missed call receiveevent) which is different from the first type has occurred. Furthermore,when there exist a plurality of events even in case of the same type ofevent, the notification light 310, 510 may be also sequentially output.

FIGS. 17A, 17B, 17C and 17D are conceptual views for explaining a methodof controlling a mobile terminal using a touch to the cover.

Referring to the drawings, the cover 200 may include a window portion240 allowing the visual information of the display unit 151 to beexposed to the outside and a touch sensing portion 590 configured tosense the user's touch input. Even in the examples of FIGS. 17A, 17B,17C and 17D, when an event occurs while the display unit is deactivated,the graphic image 410 may be output on the boundary of the windowportion, but the present examples may not be necessarily limited tothis. For example, a terminal control associated with a touch to thecover may be carried out regardless of the output of notification light.

Referring to FIG. 17A, when there is a touch input to the touch sensingportion 590, the terminal drives an application associated with an eventthat has occurred on the terminal in response to the touch input.Furthermore, the detailed content of the event may be displayed on thewindow portion 240 along with the driving of the application.

For example, when a specific event (for example, message receive event)has occurred as illustrated in FIG. 17A, the controller 180 may controlthe display unit 151 to form notification light, and display an iconrepresenting the event on the exposed region 151′. In this state, when atouch input such as short touch, long touch, drag, flicking and the likeis applied to the touch sensing portion 590, the terminal senses thetouch input. In this manner, the cover 200 is configured to allow theuser to enable an operation for manipulating the display unit 151 in aconfiguration while covering the display unit 151 of the terminal.

According to the present example, when a drag input is applied to thetouch sensing portion 590, the terminal senses it to drive anapplication (for example, message application) associated with thespecific event. At this time, the input of a user′ control command tothe application may be limited in the other portion excluding the touchsensing portion 590. It is to mostly prevent the application from beingactivated due to the input of a user's unintentional control command ina touch input enabled terminal.

Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 17A(b), the controller 180 displaysthe execution screen of an application in the exposed region 151′ whileat the same time driving the application associated with the specificevent. In this case, the content of the received message may bedisplayed on the execution screen. In other words, when an applicationis driven, the content of the received message is displayed in theexposed region. Furthermore, when the content of the message isdisplayed, the display unit 151 may be controlled such that thenotification light disappears.

Referring to FIG. 17B, when there is a touch input to the touch sensingportion 590, the controller 180 controls a specific operation of acurrently executed application in response to the touch input. Forexample, a specific application is driven on the terminal, and anexecution screen associated with the application is displayed on theexposed region 151′ while the cover 200 covers the display unit 151 ofthe terminal. In this configuration, the terminal receives a controlcommand associated with the operation of the application through a touchinput to the touch sensing portion 590 to perform the control command.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 17B(a), when an audio playapplication is driven to reproduce audio (or the reproduction iscompleted), the controller 180 displays a key or keys (audio playcontrol key) for controlling the audio reproduction on the exposedregion 151′. In this case, even when there is a touch input to the touchsensing portion 590, the terminal does not process it, and when there isa touch input to the touch sensing portion 590, it is processed as acontrol command associated with audio reproduction. Furthermore, thecontroller 180 may further display a representative image of audio data(for example, thumbnail image of a music file), audio data information(for example, music title, singer name, etc) or the like on the exposedregion 151′.

For such an example, when a touch input (for example, short touch) isapplied to a location (a location relevant to the bottom of each key)corresponding to a key for controlling audio reproduction (for example,a play key (PLAY), a stop key (STOP), a fast forward key (FF), a fastrewind key (FR), etc.), the relevant operation will be carried out.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 17B(b), when a drag input isapplied to the touch sensing portion 590, the audio play volume may beadjusted. In this case, when the drag input is sensed, the controller180 may display an indicator indicating the level of the volumeadjustment on the exposed region. Furthermore, the controller maycontrol the display unit 151 to allow the notification light 310 toflicker along with the volume control, thereby providing a feedback forvolume control to the user.

Referring to FIG. 17C, when there is a touch input to the touch sensingportion 590, the terminal senses it, and controls a camera of theterminal in response to the touch input.

For the control method, first, upon entering a camera mode in which thecamera 121 a or 121 b (refer to FIGS. 1B and 1C) is activated accordingto the user's selection, an image received through the camera 121 a or121 b is displayed on the display unit 151. At this time, when theterminal is covered by the cover, an image sensed by the camera isreduced to a size corresponding to the exposed region 151′ as a previewimage and displayed on the exposed region 151′.

According to the drawing, an indicator associated with a current statusof the sensed image may be displayed on the exposed region 151′. Theindicator may be a focus icon, a zoom icon, a brightness adjust icon, amenu select icon, and the like, for example. In this case, when there isa touch input to the touch sensing portion 590, the terminal changes thelocation or status of the icon using the touch input.

More specifically, a focus icon is displayed on the exposed region 151′along with an image sensed by the camera as illustrated in FIG. 17C(a),and the location of the focus icon is moved in response to a touch inputto the touch sensing portion 590 as illustrated in FIG. 17C(b). At thistime, the camera 121 a or 121 b may be controlled to change a subjectwhich is a focused target according to the movement of the focus icon.For example, as another example of consecutively moving a touch positionlike a drag to the touch sensing portion 590, when a drag input issensed on the touch sensing portion 590 in a state the camera isactivated, the controller 180 may process the drag input as an executioncommand of zoom-in or zoom-out in the camera.

For another example, the controller 180 may change the focus of thecamera in response to a drag touch to the touch sensing portion 590prior to activating a zoom function, and process a drag input subsequentto activating a zoom function as a zoom-in and zoom-out executioncommand subsequent to activating a zoom function. In this case, when thedrag is completed (or when a user's hand is released from the touchsensing portion), a zoom-controlled image may be captured or stored.

On the other hand, though not shown in the drawing, a cover portionrelevant to the touch sensing portion 590 may be formed in asemi-transparent manner to transmit screen information displayed on thedisplay unit 151. In other words, the user can recognize screeninformation displayed on the display unit 151 through the cover portionformed in a semi-transparent manner. At this time, a control button forcontrolling a function currently being carried out in the mobileterminal may be displayed on the display unit 151.

For example, the controller 180 may display a capture function icon, avideo switch function icon, a stop function icon, and the like in adisplay region of the display unit 151 relevant to the touch sensingportion 590 in a state that the camera is activated. When a touch inputis applied thereto, the location of the focus icon is moved along thedirection of the movement. When another touch input such as a shorttouch, a tap or the like is applied to the touch sensing portion 590 inthis state, a capture operation is carried out. For another example,when the drag is released, a capture operation may be carried out on thebasis of a subject located with the focus icon at the time of thereleasement.

Referring to FIG. 17D, when there is a touch input to the touch sensingportion 590 while the display unit is covered by the cover, the terminalprocesses the touch input as a control command for a predeterminedapplication.

Furthermore, in this case, when there is a touch input to the touchsensing portion 590 while covering the display unit, one region 151′ ofthe display unit may be activated to display screen informationassociated with a currently applied touch input.

According to the present embodiment, the terminal is configured toenable the execution of a remote control application, and when theremote control application is executed, the execution screen of theremote control application may be displayed on the terminal.

According to the drawing, a touch input to the touch sensing portion 590is defined as a driving of the remote control application or a controlof a specific operation without the output of an execution screen of theremote control application. For example, when a short touch or tap isapplied to the touch sensing portion 590, the terminal senses it andtransmits a driving signal (for example, power signal) to an imagedisplay device (for example, TV, monitor, etc.). Notificationinformation for notifying that the driving signal has been transmittedmay be displayed on the exposed region 151′. In this case, a remotecontrol application may be executed on the terminal along with thetransmission of the driving signal. When the remote control applicationis executed, the associated execution screen may be displayed on theexposed region 151′.

For another example, when a touch input is applied to the touch sensingportion 590 in a state that an event has occurred on the terminal, thetouch input may be processed as an input for a control commandassociated with a second application which is different from a firstapplication that processes the event. In other words, a touch input tothe touch sensing portion 590 may be defined as a specific functionregardless of the output of the notification light 310. As a morespecific example, when a touch input is applied to the touch sensingportion 590 in a state that a message is received to display thenotification light 310, the touch input may be processed as an input ofa control command associated with a second application (remote controlapplication) which is different from the first application (messageapplication).

Furthermore, the controller 180 may change the notification light 310 tonotification light having a different color along with the processing ofa control command associated with the second application or control thedisplay unit 151 to allow the notification light to flicker, therebyproviding a feedback for processing a control command to the user.

Furthermore, the present disclosure presents another method of providinga feedback to the user. FIG. 18 is a conceptual view for explaining amethod of providing a feedback to a user when the mobile terminalaccording to the present disclosure is closed by the cover.

Referring to the drawings, the terminal may be configured to sense atouch input to the window portion of the cover. For such an example, theterminal may be formed to detect a charge amount change at a positioncorresponding to the window portion or sense a pressure applied to thecover while the terminal is covered by the cover.

A feedback provided to the user may be implemented according to thenotification light being changed according to the touch input. For suchan example, referring to FIG. 18A, basic information (or defaultinformation) is displayed on the exposed region 151′ of the displayunit, and the notification light 310 relevant to the event is outputwhen an event occurs in this state.

In this case, when a touch input is applied to the window portion 240,the terminal senses it to release the output of the notification light310. At this time, when there exists another event, the terminal changesthe notification light to another form such as outputting a dark color(refer to FIG. 18B) or reducing a blinking time, and the like withoutreleasing the output of the notification light 310. Through this, theuser may know that there exists another event, and receive a feedback inwhich the previous event has been checked.

The control method may be repeated in case where there exists anyunchecked event. For example, when there exists an event again in casewhere a touch input is applied to the window portion 240 in the state ofFIG. 18B, the controller may output the notification light with a darkcolor as illustrated in FIG. 18C.

Furthermore, sequentially changing notification light in the foregoingcontrol method may provide a new type of setting method to the user. Forexample, when an event occurs, the color of the output notificationlight may be set by a touch input applied to the window portion 240. Forexample, the color of notification light is sequentially changed when atouch input is sequentially applied to the window portion 240, and thecolor of notification light currently being output may be set as thecolor of notification light being output during the occurrence of theevent when a different type of touch input (for example, long touch) isapplied to the window portion 240 while outputting notification lightwith a certain color.

FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, 19E and 19F are conceptual views forexplaining a method of providing its corresponding user interface when acover provided with a circular shaped window is covered on a mobileterminal according to the present disclosure.

Referring to the drawings, information (for example, a first type ofgraphic user interface) that has been displayed on the display unitwhile a front surface of the terminal is open by the cover is switchedto another information (for example, a second type of graphic userinterface) when the cover is closed. For example, information that hasbeen displayed in an open configuration is displayed at a position outof a circular shaped window, and information displayed in a coveredconfiguration may be limited to a region corresponding to the circularshaped window on the display unit.

For example, when a home screen page is displayed on the display unit ina configuration in which the cover is open or the cover is closed in astate that the execution screen of a specific application is displayed,another information may be displayed within the exposed region 151′.

Here, home screen page may be expressed as an idle screen, and when theterminal is in an idle state, the home screen page may be displayed onthe display unit. More specifically, an application icon, a folderstored with icons or a widget icon, and the like installed in the mobileterminal may be displayed on the home screen page.

Furthermore, when covering the cover, information displayed within theexposed region 151′ of the display unit may be a lock screen. The lockscreen may be a screen capable of allowing only a touch input associatedwith an operation for releasing the lock state. The lock screen may bedisplayed when an event occurs on the terminal while the display unit isdeactivated.

For more specific example, referring to FIG. 19A(a), an analog clockimage may be displayed on a circular shaped window, namely, the exposedregion 151′ when covering the cover 200. Furthermore, a digital clock oranother size of analog clock may be displayed while the cover is open,and then an analog clock may be displayed within the exposed region 151′when covering the cover.

Furthermore, a status display window 610 may be displayed at an upperend of the analog clock image. The status display window 610 may bedisplayed or not displayed according to circumstances, and displayed atan upper end of the window when displayed.

A region displayed with the status display window 610 may changed basedon a drag or slide touch to the region displayed with the status displaywindow 610. When the status display window 610 covers one region 151′ ofthe display unit by a more than predetermined range, a GUI screen asillustrated in FIG. 19A(b) may be displayed on the status display window610.

Furthermore, according to the drawing, when an event occurs on theterminal, notification light 310 may be output in the boundary region ofwindow portion 240. In other words, when an event occurs on theterminal, an analog clock image may be displayed on the exposed region151′, and notification light 310 may be displayed in the boundary regionof window portion 240. However, the present example may not benecessarily limited to the output of the notification light 310, and forexample the output of the notification light 310 may be omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 19A(a) and 19A(b), when a touch is applied to thewindow portion 240, an application icon, a widget icon, and the likeinstalled in the mobile terminal may be displayed while releasing thelock of the window portion. However, the present disclosure may not benecessarily limited to this, and when an event occurs, an applicationicon, a widget icon, and the like installed in the mobile terminal maybe displayed while releasing the lock of the window portion without anycontrol operation associated with FIG. 19A(a).

In this case, an event occurred application or widget icon may bedisplayed on the window portion 240. For another example, the icons maybe arranged on the window portion 240 according to the rules set by thedefault.

Furthermore, the icons may be some icons among icons displayed on a homescreen page. In this case, the icons may be arranged in a matrix formwhen the cover is open, and disposed in a circular manner along an outercircumference of the window portion 240 when the cover is closed.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 19A(b), when any one icon isdragged or slid to a predetermined region (for example, one region 151′of the display unit) in a state that icons are disposed therewithin, thecontroller 180 may recognize such a touch as a selection of the draggedor slid icon. Accordingly, the controller 180 may display the eventinformation of an application relevant to the dragged or slid icons orexecute an application relevant to the dragged or slid icons.

Referring to FIG. 19B, when covering the cover, icons 620 displayed onthe window portion 240 may be converged on one position and thenunfolded according to the user's selection. In this manner, when iconsbe converged on one position and then unfolded according to the user'sselection, other information may be displayed in a limited region of thewindow portion 240. The other information may be information that hasbeen displayed in the previous example or any one of informationdisplayed on an exposed region in another example which will bedescribed below.

More specifically, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 19B(a), aplurality of icons 620 are displayed in an overlapping manner to oneanother, and a first icon (unfold command receive icon) for receiving aninput for unfolding the plurality of icons is displayed at the sametime. When the user applies a touch input to the first icon through thewindow portion 240, the terminal recognizes it to unfold the pluralityof overlapped icons to o a focus of the camera ne another to be disposedin a circular shape along an outer circumference of the window portion240 as illustrated in FIG. 19B(b). In this case, a second icon (convergecommand receive icon) for receiving an input for converging theplurality of icons 620 is displayed. As illustrated in FIGS. 19B and19C, when a touch input is applied to the second icon, unfolded iconsare converged to one position again to be overlapped with one another.

However, the unfold and converge command may be applied to the windowportion in a different manner. For example, referring to FIG. 19C, aplurality of icons 620 may be converged or unfolded based on a draginput.

More specifically, for example, when a plurality of icons are displayedin an overlapping manner to one another, and the user applies a draginput to the plurality of icons 620 as illustrated in FIG. 19C(a), theplurality of icons 620 overlapped to one another are unfolded to bedisposed in a circular shape along an outer circumference of the windowportion 240 as illustrated in FIG. 19C(b). as illustrated in FIGS.19C(b) and 19C(c), icons 610 that have been unfolded when a drag inputis applied to the plurality of unfolded icons 620 are converged on oneposition to be overlapped with one another.

Referring to FIG. 19D, when a touch input is applied to any one of thedisplayed icons, the number of occurred events may be displayed thereon.For example, when an event occurs as illustrated in FIG. 19D(a),notification light 310 is output in the boundary region of windowportion 240. At the same time, an application icon, a widget icon, andthe like installed in the mobile terminal may be displayed whilereleasing the lock of the window portion 240. For another example, whena touch is applied to the window portion 240 subsequent to the output ofthe notification light 310, an application icon, a widget icon, and thelike installed in the mobile terminal may be displayed while releasingthe lock of the window portion.

In this case, when a user's touch input (for example, short touch, longtouch, drag, flicking, tap, etc.) is applied to any one of the displayedicons (refer to for instance 19D(a)), the number of occurred events isdisplayed while overturning the relevant icon (refer to FIG. 19D(b)). Inthis case, the other icons excluding an icon to which the touch input isapplied may continuously maintain the displayed form. Furthermore, theoutput of the notification light 310 may be maintained until receiving acommand for checking an event.

Furthermore, when a touch is applied to the relevant icon again whiledisplaying the number of occurred events as illustrated in FIG. 19D(b),brief information or detailed information on the occurred event may bedisplayed in one region 151′ of the display unit. The brief informationor detailed information may be displayed in a list format.

Referring to FIG. 19E, a touch input to the window portion may be set toa control command for performing a specific function of the terminal.For such an example, when a touch input is applied to a background onwhich the icons are displayed, an edit function of the background may becarried out.

For a more specific example, referring to FIG. 19E(a), while theterminal is closed by the cover, an application icon, a widget icon, andthe like may be displayed on the exposed region 151′. The icons may bearranged in order along an outer circumference of the window portion.

Referring to FIG. 19E(b), when a touch input (for example, short touch,long touch, drag, flicking, tap, etc.) is applied to the background, anedit function capable of adding an application is carried out whileoverturning the background. In order to perform the edit function, theexecution screen of an application add function may be displayed on theexposed region 151′.

Furthermore, when a touch input (for example, short touch, long touch,drag, flicking, tap, etc.) is applied to the background as illustratedin FIGS. 19E(a) and 19E(b), a basic background screen including clockinformation or the like may be displayed instead of screen informationcorresponding to an edit function. Here, a basically configured displayscreen may be the basic background screen, and when the touch input (forexample, short touch, long touch, drag, flicking, tap, etc.) is appliedto the basic background screen, a GUI screen as illustrated in FIG.19E(a) may be displayed. Here, the basic background screen may be screeninformation as described in FIG. 19A(a).

Furthermore, when icons illustrated in FIG. 19E(a) are iconscorresponding to event occurred applications, the controller 180 mayprocess the event such that it has been checked in response to apredetermined type of touch (for example. long touch, drag touch, etc.)being applied to the icon.

In case of a control process in FIG. 19E, when an event occurs prior tostarting the process, during the process, and subsequent to completingthe process, notification light may be output in the boundary region ofwindow portion 240. However, the present example may not be necessarilylimited to this, and the notification light may not be output during thecontrol process.

Referring to FIG. 19F, the terminal may be configured to selectinformation displayed on the exposed region 151′ through a touch inputto the exposed region 151′.

For example, while a first type of screen 710 (for example, a screenincluding an image) is displayed on the exposed region 151′ of theterminal, the cover 200 and terminal may be combined with each other toreceive only an input for changing a screen displayed on the exposedregion.

In this case, the output of the first type of screen may be carried outaccording to an event being occurred on the terminal. When an eventoccurs while the exposed region 151′ is deactivated, the first type ofscreen may be displayed while at the same time notification light 310 isoutput in the boundary region of window portion 240 (refer to FIG.19F(a)).

When a touch input is applied to the window portion 240 while the firsttype of screen is displayed as illustrated in FIG. 19F(b), the terminalprocess the touch input as a control command for changing the first typeof screen to another second type of screen. For example, when the touchinput (for example, short touch, long touch, drag, flicking, tap, etc.)is applied to the first type of screen 710, the first type of screen 710is overturned to display the second type of screen (refer to FIG.19F(c)). In this case, the second type of screen may be a screen inwhich an application icon, a widget icon, and the like installed in themobile terminal are sequentially arranged according to an outercircumference of the window portion.

FIGS. 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 21C, 21D and 21E are conceptual views forexplaining a method of providing a user interface capable of controllinga mobile terminal in the aspect of user's experience when a coverprovided with a circular shaped window is covered on a mobile terminalaccording to the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIGS. 20A and 20B, when the terminal is covered by thecover 200, the terminal may process a touch input applied to a specificportion of the window portion 240 as a control command for performing aspecific function. Furthermore, the present examples may be accompaniedby switching information that has been displayed on the display unitwhile a front surface of the terminal is open to another informationwhen covering the cover 200.

Referring to FIG. 20A, when the terminal is covered by the cover 200,the execution screen of a currently executed application (a playapplication in the present example, a gallery application in anotherexample, etc.) is displayed on the exposed region. At the same time,notification light 310 due to the occurrence of an event may bedisplayed in the boundary region of window portion 240. Furthermore, anindicator 810 indicating the execution region of a specific function(volume control in the present example, brightness control in anotherexample, etc.) may be displayed along an outer circumference of thewindow portion 240 within the boundary region.

The indicator 810 may be implemented in various shapes as illustrated inFIGS. 20A(a) and 20A(b), and a specific function is carried out by atouch input (for example, short touch, long touch, drag, flicking, tap,etc.) is applied to the indicator. For example, when a plurality ofimages are arranged along an outer circumference of the window portion240 as illustrated in FIG. 20A(a), the volume (or brightness) isadjusted to the relevant size when a short touch is applied to any oneof the plurality of images. For example, when a drag is applied to animage formed in an elongated manner along the outer circumference asillustrated in FIG. 20A(b), the volume (or brightness) is adjusted to asize relevant to the length of the drag.

In case of a control process in the present example, when an eventoccurs prior to starting the process, during the process, and subsequentto completing the process, notification light 310 may be output in theboundary region of window portion 240. However, the present example maynot be necessarily limited to this, and the notification light may notbe output during the control process.

Referring to FIG. 20B(a), when the terminal is covered by the cover 200,the execution screen 910 of an audio play application currently beingexecuted is displayed on the exposed region 151′. An image, a play icon,or the like may be displayed on the execution screen 910. In this case,when a touch input is applied to the window portion 240, the touch inputis processed as a control command executing a specific function of theaudio play application.

For example, when a drag input is applied to the execution screen 910 asillustrated in FIG. 20B(b), a border image 920 surrounding the executionscreen may be displayed while reducing the execution screen 910. Thereduced execution screen 910 and the border image 920 are combined witheach other to form an image like a turn table.

At this time, the drag input may be applied to a region displayed withthe border image 920. According to the direction of the drag input, fastforward (FF) and fast rewind (FR) may be carried out for reproducedaudio. In other words, fast rewind is carried out when a drag input isapplied in the direction of winding a turn table, and fast forward iscarried out when applied in the opposite direction. Through this, it maybe possible to apply an input in the form of winding or unwinding a turntable.

FIGS. 21A through 21E illustrate a method of providing a user interfacein which the location or shape of a specific image is varied accordingto an outer circumference of the circular shaped window portion.

Referring to FIG. 21A, an analog clock image may be displayed on thecircular shaped window portion 240, namely, the exposed region 151′ whencovering the cover 200. Furthermore, a digital clock or another size ofanalog clock may be displayed while the cover is open, and then ananalog clock may be displayed within the exposed region 151′ whencovering the cover.

Furthermore, the (hour or minute) hands of an analog clock may berotated based on the user's drag input. For example, when a first touchinput (for example, tap or long touch) is applied to the window portion240 while displaying the analog clock image, an adjustment mode capableof adjusting the hour or minute hand of the analog clock is carried out.In the adjustment mode, notification light 310 may be displayed in theboundary region of window portion 240. In this case, the notificationlight 310 performs the function of notifying that the adjustment modehas been executed.

Furthermore, upon executing the adjustment mode, the controller 180 maynotify that an adjustment mode has been executed using at least one ofvibration and sound in addition to the notification light 310. In otherwords, the user can receive a feedback for the execution of anadjustment mode through the output of notification information thoroughat least one of notification light, vibration and sound.

When the user applies a second touch input (for example, drag) to thehour or minute hand in the adjustment mode, the hour or minute hand canbe rotated by the second touch input. Then, when a first touch input(for example, tap or long touch) is applied thereto again, theadjustment mode can be terminated. Meanwhile, at least one ofnotification light, vibration and sound is output in response to thesecond touch input, thereby providing a feedback notifying that thesecond touch input is being effectively received.

For another example, referring to FIGS. 21B through 21D, an analog phonedial image may be displayed on a circular shaped window portion 240,namely, the exposed region 151′ when covering the cover 200. In thiscase, the dial image may not be displayed while the cover 200 is open,and then the dial image may be displayed on the exposed region 151′ whencovering the cover.

When the user applies a touch input being moved along an outercircumference of the circular shaped window portion to the dial image,the dial image is rotated in response to the touch input. At this time,a number being entered may be set according to the rotating level. Forexample, when any number (“8” in the present example) is touched (referto FIG. 21B(a)), and then a drag is applied along an outer circumferenceof the window portion to the end position of the rotation, the anynumber is entered (refer to FIG. 21B(b)). In this case, an indicatorindicating the end position of the rotation may be displayed on the dialimage, and the entered number may be displayed within the dial image. Inthis case, when the entered number corresponds to a number of thecounterpart terminal, a call signal connection for the counterpartterminal may be carried out.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 21C, when a touch input (forexample, short touch, long touch, tap, etc.) is applied to a numbershown on the dial image, an input to the relevant number can be carriedout. Even in this case, the entered number may be displayed within thedial image, and a call signal connection for the counterpart terminalmay be carried out when the entered number corresponds to a number ofthe counterpart terminal.

For still another example, as illustrated in FIG. 21D, numbers shown onthe dial image may be specified as a shortcut number. The shortcutnumber as a reduced number capable of calling the counterpart is set bythe user. More specifically, the phone number of any counterpart isspecified to any one of numbers shown on the dial image, and when theuser applies a touch input (for example, short touch, long touch, tap,etc.) is applied to the any one number while displaying the dial image,a call signal connection for the specified phone number may be carriedout.

However, the present example may not be necessarily limited to ashortcut number, and a “Favorites” function may be carried out. For aspecific example, a specific application or webpage is specified to thenumber, and it may be possible to execute the relevant application ordisplay the relevant webpage when a touch input is applied to anynumber.

A user interface in which the location or shape of a specific image isvaried according to an outer circumference of the circular shaped windowportion 240 may have a different shape from the foregoing example.

Referring to FIG. 21E, a compass image may be displayed on a circularshaped window portion 240, namely, the exposed region 151′, whencovering the cover 200. In this case, the output of the compass imagemay be carried out in response to a specific control command beingapplied thereto. For example, when a touch input (for example, shorttouch, drag, tap, etc.) set to a compass display command is applied tothe window portion 240 while the exposed region 151′ is deactivated, acompass image may be displayed on the exposed region 151′.

A compass image displayed on the exposed region 151′ may be rotated inresponse to the movement of the location of the terminal. In otherwords, the compass can be rotated to indicate a north-south directionall the time regardless of the movement of the terminal.

At this time, notification light 310 may be displayed in the boundaryregion of window portion 240. In this case, the notification light 310may perform a function of notifying that the compass image has beendisplayed. For another example, when an event occurs on the terminalprior to or subsequent to the output of the compass image, thenotification light 310 may be output thereon.

The configurations and methods according to the above-describedembodiments will not be applicable in a limited way to the foregoingmobile terminal, and all or part of each embodiment may be selectivelycombined and configured to make various modifications thereto.

In this manner, according to the present disclosure, information may beprovided through a display region exposed through the window portion ofthe cover even while the display unit is covered by the cover.Accordingly, the user may more conveniently use a mobile terminal evenwhen the cover of the mobile terminal is not open.

Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, notification light dueto the occurrence of an event may be output in the boundary region ofwindow portion while the display unit is covered by the cover, therebymore intuitively notifying the occurrence of the event to the user.

Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, the window portion ofthe cover may be formed in a circular shape, thereby providing a moreemotional mobile terminal. Moreover, according to the presentdisclosure, the window portion may be provided with a circular shape,thereby providing a specialized graphic user interface (GUI).

Hereinafter, another embodiment of a cover on which a mobile terminalaccording to the present disclosure can be mounted will be described inmore detail. The function of a mobile terminal associated with theforegoing cover may be similarly applicable to a case where a coverdescribed below is mounted on the mobile terminal, and thus the detaileddescription thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating a mobile terminal case 1000 according toan embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 23 is a viewillustrating a state in which a mobile terminal 100 is mounted on amobile terminal case 1000 in FIG. 22. Referring to FIG. 22, a mobileterminal case 1000 according to the present disclosure may include arear cover 1010 and a folio cover 1020. The rear cover 1010 may becombined with a rear surface of the mobile terminal 100 or combined witha rear case thereof after separating a battery cover of the mobileterminal 100 to replace the battery cover of the mobile terminal 100.

An opening portion 1010′ may be formed on the rear cover 1010 in aportion corresponding to the location of a camera of the mobile terminal100 to capture a picture while mounting the rear cover 1010. The openingportion 1010′ may be formed in a portion at a location corresponding toa button, a flash, a speaker, and the like, located on a rear surface ofthe mobile terminal 100, in addition to the camera.

A hook combined with the mobile terminal 100 is formed on thecircumference of the rear cover 1010, and a connection terminal 1015electrically connected to the mobile terminal 100 is formed within therear cover 1010. Power can be supplied from a power supply unit of themobile terminal 100 through the connection terminal 1015, and a controlsignal can be transferred from the controller of the mobile terminal100.

The folio cover 1020 is combined with one side of the rear cover 1010,and the mobile terminal 100 is combined with the rear cover 1010 tocover a front surface of the mobile terminal 100 as illustrated in FIG.23. The folio cover 1020 may be configured with a shape corresponding toa front shape of the mobile terminal 100, and an opening portion 1020′may be formed at a receiver portion for a call. Furthermore, a window1020″ may be formed on the folio cover 1020 to partially display time,weather information and the like at a portion of the window 1020″,thereby allowing the user to check a clock, weather information, eventnotification and the like even without opening the folio cover 1020.

FIG. 24 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a mobile terminalcase 1000 in FIG. 22, and the folio cover 1020 may include a front sheet1021, a rear sheet 1022, a light source 1028 and a light guide member1025.

The front sheet 1021 is located at an uppermost front surface thereof tobe exposed to the front surface when covering the folio cover 1020, andvarious materials such as cloth, synthetic resin, silicon or the likemay be used for the front sheet 1021. The rear sheet 1022 as a portionbrought into contact with the display unit of the mobile terminal 100when covering the folio cover 1020 may be made of the same material asthat of the front sheet 1021, but also configured with a differentmaterial.

At least one of the front sheet 1021 and rear sheet 1022 may include arigid material to maintain the shape of the folio cover 1020. However,here, a connecting portion between the folio cover 1020 and rear cover1010 is configured with a flexible material for a rotational movement.

The light source 1028 may be interposed between the front sheet 1021 andrear sheet 1022 to supply light, and a flexible printed circuit board1029 may be used to supply power to the light source 1028. Referring toFIG. 25, which is a view illustrating the front sheet 1021, light guidemember 1025, light source 1028 and flexible printed circuit board 1029excluding the rear sheet 1022, the flexible printed circuit board 1029is extended to the rear cover 1010, and connected to the foregoingconnection terminal 1015 to receive power from the mobile terminal 100.

The light guide member 1025 emits light emitted from the light source1028 in a front surface direction of the folio cover 1020, and a portionin which light is incident from the light source 1028 is referred to asa light entrance portion 1025 b, and a portion in which light is emittedin the front surface direction thereof is referred to as a light exitportion 1025 a. The light exit portion 1025 a is disposed on the openingportion 1021′, 1021′, 1021′″ and the light entrance portion 1025 b isdisposed at a location adjacent to the light source.

The light exit portion 1025 a may be located at a portion indicating aspecific logo, glyph or the like as illustrated in FIG. 23, or locatedon the circumference of the opening portion 1020′, 1020″ formed on thefolio cover 1020. The opening portion 1021′″ is formed only on the frontsheet 1021 in case of the former, but all the opening portions 1201′,1021″, 1022′, 1022″ are formed on the front sheet 1021 and rear sheet1022 in case of the latter.

FIG. 26 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a portion of thelight guide member 1025 of the folio cover 1020, in which the lightsource 1028 interposed between the front sheet 1021 and rear sheet 1022and the light guide member 1025 disposed on the circumference of theopening portion 1020′ are shown. The light source 1028 is placed on theflexible printed circuit board 1029 as described above, and the flexibleprinted circuit board 1029 may be disposed at the side of the frontsheet 1021 or rear sheet 1022 as illustrated in FIG. 26. When disposedat the side of the rear sheet 1022, a light shielding treatment may berequired to suppress light emitted from the light source 1028 and lightguide member 1025 from being exhibited on a front surface of the frontsheet 1021.

The light guide member 1025 is bent in an L-shape, and the lightentrance portion 1025 b is extended in a direction parallel to the frontsheet 1021 and rear sheet 1022, and the light exit portion 1025 a ispassed through the front sheet 1021. A reflective coating 1026 is madeon a surface of the light entrance portion 1025 b to minimize the lossof light when arriving at the light exit portion 1025 a.

As illustrated in FIG. 23, the light guide member 1025 may be located onthe circumference of the opening portion 1020′ of the folio cover 1020or the light exit portion 1025 a may be disposed at an opening partiallyformed with a figure or character shape.

When a specific event occurs such as receiving a text message or call,the mobile terminal 100 supplies power through the connection terminal1015 to emit light from the light source 1028. Power is supplied throughthe connection terminal 1015 to emit light from the light source 1028.Light supplied from the light source 1028 is emitted to a front surfacethrough the light guide member 1025, thereby allowing the user to knowthe occurrence of an event while covering the folio cover 1020.

When the light source 1028 capable of emitting three colors such as red,green and blue is used, it may be possible to implement various colorsin combination with the three colors, and vary colors according to thetype of the event. Otherwise, the light source 1028 may be controlled ina blinking manner or light may be supplied only through a measurementlight guide member 1025 among a plurality of light guide members 1025 toidentify the type of the event.

Next, FIG. 27 is a view illustrating a mobile terminal case according toanother aspect of the present disclosure, and FIG. 28 is across-sectional view of FIG. 27. Referring to FIGS. 27 and 28, anopening portion formed on the front sheet 2021 is a plurality of microperforated holes 2021′, and further includes a liquid crystal 2027′interposed between the light guide member 1025 and front sheet 2021.

The liquid crystal 2027 is a material existing in an intermediate statebetween liquid and crystal, thereby alternately exhibiting a liquidphase with an irregular molecular arrangement and a crystalline phasewith a regular molecular arrangement. The regularity of moleculararrangement may be varied according to whether or not power is suppliedthereto, and thus light is not transmitted when in an irregularmolecular arrangement but light is transmitted when in a regularmolecular arrangement.

Light may be selectively transmitted by controlling the arrangement ofthe liquid crystal 2027, thereby implementing a specific character orfigure. For example, a numeral may be implemented to transfer timeinformation to the user, and an image may be implemented to notifyweather or the occurrence of an event to the user.

A plurality of micro perforated holes 2021′ may be formed at a portionlocated with the liquid crystal 2027 to exhibit a character or figureimplemented with the liquid crystal 2027 on a front surface of the foliocover 2020 as illustrated in FIGS. 27 and 7 to emit light transmittedthrough the liquid crystal 2027. The micro perforated holes 2021′ may beformed with a size less than 0.5 mm not to be largely noticeable throughthe user's eye.

As described above, according to at least one of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the occurrence of an event may be notified from thefolio cover of the mobile terminal, thereby notifying the occurrence ofthe event to the user even while covering the folio cover.

Furthermore, light may be emitted from the folio cover, therebyimplementing more various and luxurious designs.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing fromthe concept and essential characteristics thereof.

The detailed description is, therefore, not to be construed asillustrative in all respects but considered as restrictive. The scope ofthe invention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of theappended claims and all changes that come within the equivalent scope ofthe invention are included in the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile terminal, comprising: a body having a front surface and a rear surface thereof; a display unit disposed on the front surface; a cover disposed to cover the display unit, and provided with a window portion; and a controller configured to control the display unit to illuminate notification light on the window portion when an event occurs while the display unit is deactivated, wherein the window portion is formed to expose at least part of the display unit to the outside while covering the display, and the cover is formed to output the illuminated notification light at a boundary of the window portion.
 2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the cover comprises: a cover front surface portion configured to cover the display unit; and a guide portion mounted on the cover front portion to cover at least part of the display unit, and formed to guide light output from the display unit to the window portion.
 3. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the guide portion is formed to surround an outer circumference of the window portion.
 4. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein the window portion is formed with a circular shape, and the guide portion is formed to be greater than the window portion, and a through hole corresponding to the window portion is formed in the guide portion.
 5. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein a recess portion recessed along the thickness direction thereof to accommodate the guide sheet portion is formed on the cover body portion.
 6. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein the controller turns on a region covered by the guide sheet portion within the display unit to guide light displayed on the display unit by the guide portion when the event occurs.
 7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the cover is provided with a light transmitting edge region to output light output from the display unit to the outside.
 8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein the cover comprises a guide portion at least part of which is exposed to the outside while covering the display unit to guide light output from the display unit to the edge region.
 9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the cover portion comprises a sensing unit configured to sense a configuration that the cover portion is covered on the display unit, and the controller controls the display unit to output notification light on the boundary of the window portion when an event occurs while the cover portion covers the display unit.
 10. The mobile terminal of claim 9, wherein the controller controls the display unit to vary the color of notification light output on the boundary of the window portion according to the type of the occurred event.
 11. The mobile terminal of claim 10, wherein the window portion is formed with a circular shape, and an image sequentially turned on along the outer circumference of the window portion is formed on the display unit.
 12. The mobile terminal of claim 10, wherein the controller controls a turn-on speed displaying the image on the display unit at a first speed when the occurred event is an event associated with a first application, and controls a turn-on speed displaying the image on the display unit at a second speed which is different from the first speed when the occurred event is an event associated with a second application which is different from the first application.
 13. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the window portion is formed with a circular shape, and when there exist a plurality of notification target events to be guided through the notification light, the controller controls the display unit to partition the outer circumference of the window portion into a plurality of regions based on the number of a plurality of events, and display different colors of notification light on the surrounding of the plurality of partitioned regions.
 14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the different colors are determined based on the types of the plurality of events, and information on the different colors are stored in a memory in connection with the information of applications corresponding to the plurality of events, respectively, and when an event occurs, the controller controls the display unit to output notification light based on the information of an application corresponding to the occurred event and color information in connection with an application corresponding to the occurred event.
 15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the controller displays a plurality of icons representing applications corresponding to the plurality of events, respectively, when notification light consisting of a plurality of colors is output on the outer circumference of the window portion and then a predetermined type of touch is applied to the window portion within a predetermined period of time, and outputs the detailed information of an event corresponding to the selected icon on an exposed region exposed through the window portion of the display unit when any one of the displayed icons is selected.
 16. The mobile terminal of claim 15, wherein the plurality of icons are arranged along the circumference of the window portion.
 17. The mobile terminal of claim 16, wherein the controller displays the plurality of icons with colors based on color information in connection with applications corresponding to the plurality of icons, respectively.
 18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, wherein when any one of the plurality of icons is selected, the controller switches notification light consisting of a plurality of colors along the outer circumference of the window portion to a color in connection with an application corresponding to the selected icon.
 19. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein the notification target event is an event that has occurred prior to a time point at which notification light is output in response to the event occurrence but has been unchecked.
 20. The mobile terminal of claim 13, wherein when a predetermined type of touch is applied to the window portion while displaying the different colors of notification light, the controller displays detailed information on any one of the plurality of notification target events.
 21. The mobile terminal of claim 20, wherein when a predetermined type of touch is applied again to the window portion while displaying detailed information on any one of the plurality of notification target events, the controller switches detailed information displayed on the display unit to detailed information on the other one of the plurality of notification target events.
 22. The mobile terminal of claim 21, wherein different colors constituting the notification light represent the plurality of notification target events, respectively, and when detailed information on any one of the plurality of notification target events is switched to detailed information on the other one thereof, the controller excludes a color corresponding to the any one event from the different colors constituting the notification light. 